Licensing electronic journals by international providers is a fairly new practice in transition and developing countries, and the translation of legal documents, the adaptation of Western contracts to local requirements used to be an additional strain on librarians and consortium leaders.

The EIFL project has produced a model contract and a model licence that will be used in connection with the deals negotiated by eIFL.net with an individual publisher.

The model contract is used to confirm the deal negotiated between eIFL.net and a particular publisher. Schedule 1 of each eIFL.net-publisher contract will list the negotiated prices for each of the countries that participate in the eIFL.net project. It is up to the individual countries if they want to take up the deal or not.

A Guide to eIFL.net Model Licences

• What are eIFL.net Model Licences?
• How many Model Licences are there?
• Who is an eIFL.net negotiated Licence for?
• What are the benefits for eIFL.net members?
• How are the Model Licenses used?
• Is eIFL.net a party to the Model Licences?
• What’s actually in the Model Consortium Licence?
• What’s in the Main Agreement for me?
• What’s in the Sub-Licence for me?
• What’s actually in the Model Institution Licence?
• What can the resource be used for?
• Who is authorised to use the resource?
• What about remote access?
• What do the Model Licences allow?
• What can the institution do?
• What can Staff and Students do?
• Cutting and pasting for teaching and learning
• How can the resource be used for teaching students?
• How can students use the resource in their studies?
• How can the resource be used to support research activity?
• What library services are allowed?
• What staff and students may NOT do:
• Institutional responsibilities
• What about perpetual access?
• Always check the fine print!
• To find out more
• Disclaimer.

What are eIFL.net Model Licences?

The eIFL.net Model Licences are licences drafted by eIFL.net which contain more favourable provisions than any standard commercial licence for access and use of electronic journals and datasets. eIFL.net negotiates such licences with publishers on behalf of the eIFL.net members. The eIFL.net Model Licences contain provisions that allow students and staff to make effective use of online resources for learning, teaching and research.

How many Model Licences are there?

At the moment there are two:
Consortium Licence (and a sub-licence);
Institutional Licence.
The terms and conditions governing who can use a resource, and how are similar.

Who is an eIFL.net negotiated Licence for?

It can be used by university, public, national, governmental libraries and research institutions within the countries of the eIFL.net members.

What are the benefits for eIFL.net members?

The Model Licences provide a consistent approach to access and use of resources to allow teachers, learners and researchers to use each resource to its fullest potential to support their activities.

How are the Model Licenses used?

Each Model Licence provides a starting point for negotiations with publishers. While every effort is made to retain all the clauses, occasionally amendments are made. However, this only occurs after consultation with skilled legal counsel contracted by eIFL.net to ensure the interests of eIFL.net’s members are protected.

Although the terms and conditions from the Model Licences are invariably achieved, it is the responsibility of each institution to check the precise wording of the terms and conditions of each licence and if necessary to seek legal advice, before you sign an eIFL.net negotiated licence.

Is eIFL.net a party to the Model Licences?

eIFL.net is not a party to the Model Licences. However, eIFL.net signs a contract with each Publisher to secure the prices negotiated for a specific resource and the use of the eIFL.net Model Licences.

What’s actually in the Model Consortium Licence?

Each Consortium Licence has two parts:

• The Main Agreement between the Consortium and the Publisher;
• A Sub-Licence between the Consortium and a consortium member.

The Main Agreement represents the agreement between the Consortium and the Publisher. This agreement covers the pricing and the agreement on the terms and conditions of the Sub-Licence.

The Sub-Licence represents the agreement between the Consortium and a member of the Consortium. It details the terms and conditions of use for subscribing institutions and their staff and students.

What’s in the Main Agreement for me?

Even though the Main Agreement is the agreement between the Consortium and the Publisher, it includes terms and conditions that are of benefit to end users:

• Customer support for subscribing institutions and their authorised users.
• The provision of free electronic user documentation (for reproduction and circulation with appropriate acknowledgement).
• A warranty by the Publisher that all intellectual property rights ("IPR") in the resources are either owned by or licensed to the Publisher.
• An indemnity by the Publisher to protect Institutions if they are sued by a third party for IPR infringement for using the resource in accordance with the agreed terms and conditions in the Sub-Licence.

These terms are also included in the Institution Licence.

What’s in the Sub-Licence for me?

The Sub-Licence contains the terms and conditions of use:

• What the resource can be used for:
• Who is authorised to use the resource;
• How it can be accessed;
• What authorised users and institutions can do with it;
• What users and institutions must not do with i;
• The responsibilities of the Institution.

It also includes other terms and conditions in accordance with best practice for a licence of this nature such as the duration of the agreement, grounds for termination, acknowledgement of IPR, warranties and indemnities, Force Majeure and governing law.

What’s actually in the Model Institution Licence?

The Institution Licence represents the agreement between an individual Institution and a Publisher. The agreement covers the pricing and the same terms and conditions of access and use of the resource as set out above for the Sub-Licence.

What can the resource be used for?

The resource can only be used for Educational Purposes. This means teaching and learning either face to face or distance learning, private study and research. The resource must not be used for any Commercial Use. This means use of the whole or parts of the resource with a view to a commercial gain.

Who is authorised to use the resource?

The Licences refer to Authorised Users. These fall into two categories based on their relationship with an institution:

These are:

• Any person who is a current student or a current member of staff of the institution and who is permitted to access the Institution’s information services on and off site. This excludes staff and students of a partner institution.
• Any person who is NOT a current student or a current member of staff of the institution, but who is permitted by the institution to access its secure network from computer terminals while the person is located physically within the library premises. This person is referred to as a Walk-in User because they can access the resource by "walking in" to the library but are restricted to using it only within library premises.

What about remote access?

The Model Licences allow the institution to provide 24/7 access for multiple users, simultaneously using secure access to any member of staff and students of the institution.

Walk-in Users cannot be given remote access rights. They can only use the resource while physically located within the library premises, using computer terminals on the secure network. This is because Walk-in Users are not members of the institution; consequently their conduct cannot be regulated while off the premises, making it impossible for the institution to ensure that the terms and conditions of an eFLI.net negotiated licence is met.

What do the Model Licences allow?

The Model Licences allows all students and staff to use parts of the resource for:

• Teaching and training staff and students whether on campus or not;
• Student course work (including project work and dissertations);
• Research activities;
• Presenting research professionally eg in a conference presentation, or in papers.

What can the institution do?

The institution is allowed to make a local cache copy. This is particularly helpful where staff wish to use a resource during a teaching session, and want to guarantee speedy and reliable access by using a local copy of the resource (rather than relying on access via the web). Access to the cached version must still be via a secure network and is subject to the same terms and conditions as any other use.

What can Staff and Students do?

Staff, students and Walk-in Users can:

• Search the resource and look at their results on screen;
• Save portions of the resource electronically, these can be saved to a computer hard drive, floppy disk, CD-ROM, USB flash drive etc;
• Print out single copies of portions of the resource, for example journal articles, book chapters, search results etc.

Cutting and pasting for teaching and learning

Staff and students may "incorporate" parts of the resource in teaching materials and coursework providing it is appropriately acknowledged. This provides the flexibility to use such items as learning objects.

This allows teachers and lecturers to integrate parts of the resource into traditional teaching materials such as reading lists and other handouts. It also means staff and students can ‘cut and paste’ from a range of resources into a single teaching resource or course assignment, as long as appropriate acknowledgment is made for each item (and the Licence for each resource contains the relevant terms and conditions).

How can the resource be used for teaching students?

Staff can cut and paste extracts from the resource in printed or electronic course packs for teaching students of the institution.

This is not limited to a particular medium and can include teaching materials on CD.

Teaching staff may use extracts to create interactive tutorials that use still and moving images, text and graphics.

Staff may reproduce extracts in a format that aids accessibility, for example Braille.

Any provision of course materials online must be through a secure network. You will need to check the licence agreement because in some cases it is necessary to delete electronic copies of teaching materials at the end of the licence period.

How can students use the resource in their studies?

Students can cut and paste parts of the resource in printed or electronic form in projects, portfolios and in dissertations. Students must include the details of the source, title listing and copyright owner in their coursework.

How can the resource be used to support research activity?

Staff and students can search and look at their results on screen to support their study and research. This may also:

• Save extracts electronically to a computer hard drive, floppy disk, CD-ROM etc;
• Print out single copies of extracts from the resource, for example journal articles, book chapters, search results etc;
• Publicly display or present as part of their work at seminars, workshops or conferences.

What library services are allowed?

• Inter library loan and electronic document delivery of a single copy using Ariel;
• Provide printed and electronic copies of parts of the resource at the request of staff and students;
• Download extracts from the resource for training and promotion;
• Make copies of training materials in print or electronic format.

What staff and students may NOT do:

• Make the resource available off-site to anyone other than staff and students;
• Remove or hide or change copyright notices or remove acknowledgements;

Note: When ‘cutting and pasting’ extracts from the resource, any form of acknowledgment associated with the item must be included (e.g. copyright caption with an image).

• Allow the resource to be viewed in any way other than on the institutions secure network;
• Use the resource for Commercial Use or for any purpose other than Educational Purposes;
• Display any part of the resource on a publicly accessible website or network.

All of these restrictions continue after the end of the licence agreement.

Institutional responsibilities

When an institution signs an eIFL.net’s negotiated Licence it agrees to:

• Issue passwords to staff and students;
• Make staff and students aware that they cannot share their passwords with anyone else;
• Only allow staff, students or Walk-In users of the library access to the resource through the secure network;
• Make sure that staff, students and Walk-in Users are aware of what they are and aren’t allowed to do with the resource;
• Let the publisher know immediately if they are aware of unauthorised access or use of the resource. Also to take the appropriate steps to ensure unauthorised access or use is not repeated.

A breach of a Licence is a serious matter and can be grounds for termination of the agreement. This places the rights of other users in jeopardy.

What about perpetual access?

eIFL.net negotiates to secure access after the expiry of an eIFL.net’s negotiated Licence. The eIFL.net's Model Licences include an obligation on the Publisher to provide the Institution (that has signed an eIFL.net negotiated Licence) with an archive of the full text of the resource, without further charge.

Perpetual access to the full text will be provided by the publisher either by continuing online access via the Publisher’s server or by supplying the electronic files to each subscribing Institution in an electronic medium mutually agreed between the parties. Institutions can network the archive within their institution at their own cost. Continuing archival access and use is subject to the terms and conditions of the expired Licence.

Always check the fine print!

Sometimes the eIFL.net’s negotiated licence will differ from the eIFL.net Model Licences. It is important to check each Licence that you sign, especially the perpetual access provision.

To find out more

Copies of the eIFL.net Model Licences can be found at:
publisher-individual institution licence;
publisher-consortium licence plus the consortium-institution sub-licence;
publisher-individual institution licence for free countries;
publisher-consortium licence plus the consortium-institution sub-licence for free countries.

Disclaimer.

This guide should be used for information purposes only. It does not provide legal advice. Always check the relevant section of the institution licence that your institution has signed before you provide access or allow use of a resource and in doubt, please seek legal advice.