COPYCENSE

K. Matthew Dames, the executive editor of CopyCense, is speaking at several sessions of the Computers in Libraries 2006 conference in Washington, DC.

Mr. Dames is conducting a post-conference workshop on Saturday, March 25, 2006 entitled Buying Digital Content: Negotiating Licenses for E-Content. The description for this workshop follows:

Join our expert for a primer on negotiating licenses for electronic & database information. License agreements have become as common as the electronic information being protected. If you use Lexis, Factiva or JSTOR, you have consented to a content license agreement. This workshop helps you understand license agreements: the terms they contain; their relation to copyright law; and their impact on customers, institutions, and users. Most importantly, the workshop explains negotiating strategies that help buyers gain maximum value for their fees and preserve critical rights.

Separate registration is required for the workshop (Workshop 14), which begins at 9:00 AM EST and ends at 12:00 noon EST.

Supplemental materials for this workshop, including the final version of Mr. Dames’ slide presentation, are available below.

For more information about retaining K. Matthew Dames as a consultant, speaker or trainer, please contact Seso Digital LLC at mail [at] sesodigital.com.

Slide Presentation

K. Matthew Dames. Buying Digital Content. (.pdf, 284 KB) Workshop given at Computers in Libraries 2006. Washington, DC. March 25, 2006.

Supplemental Materials: Contracts Law

• Law About Contracts A good overview of contract law from the Legal Information Institute, with links to the relevant provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code.

• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws: NCCUSL drafts laws, rules, and procedures that are consistent from state to state. It is the organization responsible for drafting the Uniform Commercial Code, including UCC Article 2, which concerns the sale and lease of goods.

Supplemental Materials: Copyright Law

• CopyCense™: CopyCense™ provides news and commentary about the intersection of law and technology, with a particular focus on copyright and licensing.

• United States Copyright Office: The Web site of the federal agency that advises Congress on intellectual property matters and anticipated changes in U.S. copyright law; analyzes and assists in drafting copyright legislation and legislative reports for Congress; maintains a registry of copyrighted works; and promulgates rules about the procedure for registering works.

• Copyright Law: A full online version of Title 17 of the United States Code. Sections 106, 109, and 301 (among others) are relevant to the overlap between licensing and copyright.

Supplemental Materials: Licensing Resources

• CopyCense™: CopyCense™ provides news and commentary about the intersection of law and technology, with a particular focus on copyright and licensing.

• LibLicense: Licensing Digital Information. Created and operated by Yale University Libraries, this is the leading Web site for academic professionals who have to deal with negotiating electronic content licenses. Includes a glossary, model license, term analysis, and compendium of publishers’ licenses (although this last section contains many outdated links).

• Creative Commons. One of the leading commercial licensing initiatives, the Creative Commons provides licenses that protect or give away an author’s copyright according to his or her level of comfort and beneficence.

• Licensing Electronic Resources. From the Association of Research Libraries, this is another good resource for academic professionals who must negotiated electronic content licenses.

• Licensing Resources. The University of Texas provides a good single-sheet summary of the intersection of copyright and licensing, with relevant links to other, more broad sources.

• Dangerous Terms: A User’s Guide to EULAs. Along with the Ed Foster sites (immediately below), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) analyzes End User Licensing Agreements, or EULAs, which are some of the most common — and potentially onerous — license agreements most people or organizations will encounter. Unlike electronic content licenses, however, EULAs rarely are negotiated. The EFF site provides tips on what to watch for, and how to avoid having your rights eliminated.

• The Gripe Line Weblog. InfoWorld’s Ed Foster is one of the leading observers and critics of EULAs, and this forum is a good place to monitor EULA changes and trends.

• Ed Foster’s GripeLog. A companion site to The Gripe Line Weblog, Foster’s own GripeLog contains slightly different content than what appears on the InfoWorld site.

• Principles for Licencing Electronic Resources. Created and maintained by the University of Western Australia Library, this site provides a good overview of key licensing terms, and optimal limits that educators should seek during licensing negotiations.

• Licensing Principles. While a bit outdated, this document from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions presents a “set of basic principles that should prevail in the contractual relationship and written contracts between libraries and information providers.”

Supplementary Materials: Articles

• K. Matthew Dames. Buying E-Content: Librarians, Salaries, & Opportunities. CopyCense. Dec. 13, 2005.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.