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N A S I G 2 0 1 4
F T . W O R T H , T X
BUILDING YOUR LICENSING AND
NEGOTIATION SKILLS TOOLKIT
INTRODUCTIONS
Claire Dygert
Assistant Director for Licensing and E-Resources
Florida Virtual Campus
THE FLORIDA VIRTUAL CAMPUS
• Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC), July 1, 2012
• Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA). Supported
libraries of the 11 State Universities.
• College Center for Library Automation (CCLA). Supported
libraries of the 28 Colleges.
• Florida Distance Learning Consortium (FDLC). Maintained
the Higher Education Distance Learning Course Catalog.
• Florida Center for Advising and Academic Support (aka
“FACTS.org”).
• Provide some service to ICUF libraries for a fee.
• Contract with the University of Florida to provide
support services, including legal and procurement
services.
E-RESOURCE LICENSING
• $7.1 million e-resource budget to support the
SUS/FCS
• Group licensing activities for 28 FCS, working the SUS
into process. Value in 2014 $1.7 million
• E-journal package negotiation and management
on behalf of SUS & ICUF. Value in 2014 $16 million.
• Fees from ICUF institutions generate about $38,000
annually in cost-recovery
BEFORE FLVC
• Emmanuel College Library, 1990 - 1992
• Circulation/Reserves Coordinator
• No single public computer in library
• Card catalog – doing retrospective conversion to MARC book
by book
• Completely neglected periodicals room
• Everett Community College Library, 1992-1996
• Library Technician II – Serials & ILL
• CD-ROM Indexes
• CD-ROM Indexes + Selected FT
BEFORE FLVC…
• University of Washington, 1994-1996
• MLIS Student
• Internet existed as text-based, command line environment
extent, with gopher, FTP, Bulletin Boards, etc.
• TULIP Project
• Mosaic, GUI released in 1993
• American University Library, 1996-2007
• Department Head for Serials & E-Resources, and Digital
Library Coordinator
• Handful of electronic, web-based resources
• Negotiated my first license agreement for BHA
• Project Muse – online periodicals from John Hopkins University
Press
TRANSFORMATION OF THE
INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
OWNERSHIP
(Copyright law)
To
ACCESS
(Contract law)
OVERVIEW OF PART I
• Introductions
• Why do we have license agreement and what are
they?
• Review laws that effect use of content and the role
of the license agreement as a legal document
• Explore the anatomy of a license agreement
• Focus on authorized use clauses
• Draw upon Florida Virtual Campus Guidelines for E-Resource
License Agreements
• Discuss emerging licensing issues
• How to get started working with license agreements
COPYRIGHT LAW
• Copyright Law grants a copyright owner distribution
and reproduction rights, with important exceptions:
• First-sale doctrine: has to do with distribution rights
• Allows libraries to lend, sell, discard print materials
• Fair-use: has to do with reproduction rights
• Provides for use in criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching,
scholarship, and research.
• Four factors of consideration: purpose, nature of copyrighted
work, amount of content used, effect upon market
• Educational & library exceptions
Interlibrary loan, use in course packs
THREAT OF THE DIGITAL
ENVIRONMENT
• Content providers unfamiliarity with libraries and
their practices
• Book jobbers and subscription agents served as middleman
between libraries and content providers
• License agreements, as contracts, detail specific rights and
responsibilities
• If libraries have the right to lend content, what are the
boundaries? Ease of transmission of digital formats could
allow replication of content over time at multiple locations.
LICENSE AGREEMENTS
• License agreements are contracts, and based on
the law of contract.
• Agreements between two parties wherein one
party grants permission to another to engage in
some activity (e.g., the right to have authorized
users access an online database)
• Generally share a similar format
• Contract terms take precedence over existing rights
and exceptions granted under Copyright Law
FROM THE SIMPLE TO COMPLEX
• License agreements vary greatly in complexity
• Licenses for aggregator databases, online reference
resources, collection development tools, etc., tend to be
brief and relatively straightforward
• E-journal package licenses, e-book licenses, tend to be
lengthier and more complex
• SERU: Shared Electronic Resource Understanding
• NISO Best Practice
• Details standard business practices
• Copyright Law governs use, so no license is required
ANATOMY OF A LICENSE AGREEMENT
• Description of “Licensor” and “Licensee”
• Glossary of Terms
• Authorized Users/Site
• Authorized Uses
• Licensor Responsibilities
• Licensee Responsibilities
• Mutual Obligations
• Legal Issues (Governing Law, Indemnification, etc.)
• Schedules and Amendments
DEFINING LICENSOR & LICENSEE
• Licensor is the content provider, should already be
detailed in the contract
• Licensee is the subscriber. The term “Licensee” can
be used to include multiple participating institutions.
• Your institution may require it be represented in a very
specific way in contracts. For example:
“The University of Florida Board of Trustees, authorized agent
for the Florida Virtual Campus, an entity created by the State
of Florida, pursuant to Section 1006.73, Florida Statutes, with
an address at 1753 West Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL
32310.”
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
1. KEY DEFINITIONS
In this Licence, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
Commercial Use
Use for the purposes of monetary reward (whether by or
for the Consortium or a Member or an Authorised User)
by means of sale, resale, loan, transfer, hire or other
form of exploitation of the Licensed Materials.
Course Packs A collection or compilation of materials (e.g. book
chapters, journal articles) assembled by members of
staff of a Member for use by students in a class for the
purposes of instruction.
Effective Date The date on which this Licence will be deemed to have
taken effect.
Electronic Reserve Electronic copies of materials (e.g. book chapters,
journal articles) made and stored on the Secure
Network by the Consortium or by a Member for use by
students in connection with specific courses of
instruction offered by a Member to its students.
AUTHORIZED USERS
• Defined by affiliation with university, not geographic
location
• Be as inclusive as possible (include contractors and
affiliated users)
• Include provision for “walk-in” or “occasional” users
Sample clause:
“Authorized users include those persons affiliated with
Licensee as students, faculty, staff, and independent
contractors of Licensee and its participating institutions,
regardless of the physical location of such persons, as well
as walk-in users.”
AUTHORIZED SITE
• Should be defined at the institutional rather than library
level; not geographically based
• Allow access by all users who have the right to access
the institutional network
Sample clause:
“The authorized site consists of all geographic locations
and/or campuses of the institutions that are identified in
the agreement as Participating Institutions. All authorized
users who have right of entry to the network are granted
access regardless of their physical location. This definition
may include institutions with joint-use facilities that reside
on a single network.”
AUTHORIZED USES
• Retention of all rights in accordance with U.S.
Copyright Law
Sample clause:
“The Publisher agrees to grant to the Consortium the non-exclusive and
non-transferrable right to give Authorized Users access to the Licensed
Materials via a Secure Network for the purposes of research, teaching,
and private study and other uses in accordance with U.S. Copyright Law,
including fair use and library reproduction rights.”
OR
“Nothing in this License shall in any way exclude, modify, or affect any of
the Consortium’s or any Member’s statutory rights under national
copyright law.”
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
• Electronic ILL should be allowed
• Remove references to:
• the provision of data or statistics on ILL use,
• type of library
• geographic limitations to ILL (e.g., ILL to U.S. only)
Sample clause:
“Licensee may supply through interlibrary loan a copy of
an individual document being part of the Licensed
Materials by post, fax or secure electronic transmission for
the purposes of non-commercial use. Specifically, copies
may be made in compliance with Section 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Act.”
INTERLIBRARY LOAN & E-BOOKS
• ILL and e-books remains problematic
• Loaning e-book chapters acceptable
• Tools for loaning e-books under development
Sample clause:
“Participating libraries may supply through Interlibrary
Loan (ILL) chapters of e-book content by post, fax or
secure electronic transmission. Specifically, copies
may be made in compliance with Section 108 of the
U.S. Copyright Act and the limitation of the [Vendor]
system.”
USE IN COURSES, CMS
• May be covered in a single clause or multiple
clauses
Sample clause:
“Licensee and Authorized Users may use a
reasonable portion of the Licensed Materials in the
preparation of course packs, course reserves or other
educational materials as well as within secure course
management systems.”
COMMERCIAL USE
• When restrictions to commercial use appear, a
clarifying clause should be present
Sample clause:
“For the avoidance of doubt, charging administrative
fees to cover the costs of making permitted copies is
not prohibited. Use by the Consortium or a Member
or by an Authorized User of the Licensed Materials in
the course of research funded by a commercial
organization, is not Commercial Use.”
PERPETUAL ACCESS
• Perpetual rights vary by type of resource
• Aggregator databases and other databases generally don’t
provide perpetual access rights
• E-journal contracts generally include perpetual access rights
• Perpetual access fees should be detailed in the Fee Schedule
Sample clause:
“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.
Continuing archival access and use is subject to the terms and
conditions of the expired License.”
LICENSOR RESPONSIBILITIES
• Privacy
• Quality of service
• Provision of usage statistics
• Collection of usage statistics by third party
• Provision for withdrawn materials
LICENSEE RESPONSIBILITIES
• Notifying users of license terms
• Avoiding breach
(Language requiring the licensee to do the above
should be edited to make reasonable efforts to)
• Strike confidentiality – Florida Public Records Law
• Discipline for breach – requirements should be
struck
LEGAL ISSUES
• Governing law – should be state of home institution,
or agreement should “remain silent”
• Website or “Click through” user agreements –
written agreement supersedes online agreement
• Changes in writing and agreed to by both parties
THINGS I ASK A LAWYER ABOUT
These are complex legal concepts; legal counsel
should be sought for clauses of concern.
• Indemnification
• Warranties
• Limitations of Liability
SIGNATURE PAGE
• Typically concludes the main body of the license
• Precedes any addenda or schedules and
attachments
• Should be signed by an authorized individual
• Delegation of authority often capped at a certain dollar
amount
• Without proper authority, individual signing could be held
personally responsible
SCHEDULES AND ATTACHMENTS
• Useful for laying out terms of the contract that don’t
fit neatly into the main body of the contract
• May include:
• Fee schedules
• Details on participating libraries
• Lists/descriptions of licensed content
• Invoicing instructions
• Contact information
• Are referenced in the main body of the contract
OTHER LICENSING ISSUES
• MOOCs
• ADA Compliance
• Text and Data Mining (TDM)
• ILL for E-books – Promise of Occam’s Reader
• Video Streaming
GETTING STARTED IN LICENSING
• Don’t be afraid/intimidated/hesitant
• Educate yourself
• Develop local licensing guidelines (or steal liberally from
others!)
• Ask for a copy of the agreement early in the acquisitions
process; request an editable format if necessary
• Use the “Track Changes” feature of your word
processing program to edit clauses, adding comments
liberally
• Err on the side of asking for more rather than fewer
changes
WHAT’S NEXT
• Send the marked up agreement (often called the
“redline” copy), complete (or replete!) with
comments to your sales representative
• Refer them to any guidelines or best practices you
employed
• Ask them what their timeline for review is
• Invite them to contact you if they have any
questions
• Usually one more iteration
• Conclusion to signature will vary at each institution
DEVELOP A NETWORK OF SUPPORT
• Educate your colleagues
• Purchasing office
• Experience dealing with contracts and negotiations
• Office of general counsel
• Provide expertise on legal issues such as indemnification,
warranties, intellectual property issues
• Good partner in developing licensing guidelines
• Define a workflow, identify responsibilities, and
establish expectations for turnaround times
LICENSING RESOURCES
The Librarian’s Legal Companion for Licensing Information Resources
and Services, by Thomas A. Lipinski
FLVC Licensing Guidelines, Version III
https://fclaweb.fcla.edu/uploads/FLVC_Licensing_Guidelines_Versio
n_III_Final.pdf
LIBLICENSE PROJECT
http://liblicense.crl.edu/
U.S. Copyright Law
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/
SERU
http://www.niso.org/workrooms/seru
P A R T I I : N E G O T I A T I N G W I T H C O N F I D E N C E
BUILDING YOUR LICENSING AND
NEGOTIATION SKILLS TOOLKIT
OVERVIEW: PART II
• The Importance of Good Negotiation Skills
• The Process of Negotiation
• Planning & Information Gathering
• Putting together a Proposal
• Negotiating the Deal
• Building a Negotiation Support System
• Learning from Your Mistakes
THE IMPORTANCE OF NEGOTIATION
“Only librarians, on the whole, complain about the
Big Deal, since their researchers are mostly not aware
of costs and cost increases. And librarians have
limited power. They also have no strong track record
when it comes to negotiating, only in rare cases
employing professional negotiators, it seems. That is
their weakness, and the publishers’ strength”.
Jan Velterop, quoted in Reed Elsevier NV: Feedback from Meeting with
Jan Velterop, FLASH NOTE, 6 February 2012, published by Cheuvreux
Credit Agricole Group.
• What does negotiation mean to you?
• Winning or losing?
• Arguing with the opposition?
• Gaining or losing power?
• Reaching agreement?
• What emotions arise when you picture yourself
having to negotiate?
• Angry?
• Intimidated?
• Excited?
WHAT DOES NEGOTIATION MEAN TO
YOU?
“GETTING TO YES”: PRINCIPLED VS.
POSITIONAL BARGAINING
• Positional bargaining
• Depends upon each side taking – and then giving up – a
succession of positions.
• Often becomes a contest of wills, endangering ongoing
relationships.
• Egos become identified with the position.
“GETTING TO YES”: PRINCIPLED VS.
POSITIONAL BARGAINING
Principled Bargaining
• Separates the people from the problem or issue
• Focuses on interests, not positions
• Creates options for mutual gain
• Insists on using objective criteria
Scenario: Major e-journal package
up for renewal.
THE PLANNING PROCESS
• Information Gathering
• Assessment
• Building Leverage
• OUTCOME: Development of an informed proposal
INFORMATION GATHERING
• Know the publisher’s business
• STM publishing is a high profit margin segment of the Media
industry, and maintained revenue growth despite the
recession, with an average annual profit growth of around
10% p.a.
• Do you know what the profit growth is of the publisher you
are negotiating with?
• Trends in the publishing industry, such as increased use of
off-shoring and out-sourcing have reduced production and
operation costs in recent years.
INFORMATION GATHERING
• Know your institution’s/library’s business
• How have library and university budgets been impacted
over the past 3-5 years?
• How has this effected you library’s buying power over a
specific period of time?
• What impact have changes in curricular and research
needs had on your library?
• What level of contribution have your own faculty made to
the publisher’s content?
INFORMATION GATHERING
• What deals are other institutions/consortia getting?
• ICOLC conferences/annual survey
• Public records requests
• Literature review may reveal trends
ASSESSMENT
• How is the collection being used?
• Are there subscriptions held that are no longer
needed to support curricular and research needs?
• Does cost-per-use analysis identify content more
advantageously purchased on a per transaction
basis?
• How does the cost compare to other publisher
contracts?
BUILDING LEVERAGE
• Critical when dealing with sole source providers
• Are there other libraries you can partner with?
• Springer Contract: 11 SUS + 8 ICUF + CCLA/FCS
• Oxford University Press: 11 SUS + 7 ICUF + 1 FCS
• Cambridge University Press: 11 SUS + 4 ICUF
• SAGE: 11 SUS + CCLA/FCS
• Wiley: 11 SUS + 10 ICUF
• Taylor & Francis (new contract for 2014): 9 SUS + 9 ICUF
• Is there a new market you can help the publisher enter?
• How much investment has your library made in the company
across product lines (backfiles, reference works, etc.) that
contributed to their success?
• Do you have support (or at least awareness!) from your
faculty?
• Use the competiveness of the marketplace to your advantage
PUTTING TOGETHER A PROPOSAL
• Integrate everything learned in the information
gathering, assessment, and leverage building
process
• May provide one or more (but not too many!)
options
• Clearly articulate the terms the library wants
• Content to be licensed
• Pricing terms and fees
• Treatment of transfer & new start titles
• Discounts for print
• Demonstrate mutual gain
PROPOSALS AND PRINCIPLED
NEGOTIATION
• Separates the people from the issues
• The proposal details the issues, not the people
• Focuses on interests, not positions
• Interest is focused on finding terms that both sides can
agree on
• Creates options for mutual gain
• Provides new opportunities for publisher while meeting
needs of library
• Uses objective criteria
• Bargaining is based upon verifiable facts
Scenario: Mid contract with major
STEM publisher when the
economic crisis hit.
THE SETTING
• Budget cuts significant at some institutions, libraries
in need of relief
• Publisher employing a divide and conquer
approach
• FLVC acted as a single voice for all participating
institutions
• Proposal to reduce mid-term contract costs
“Nearly all of the libraries of the eleven State Universities
suffered budget cuts in the past two fiscal year
cycles… Representative is the Florida State University
(FSU) library, which underwent a cut of 6% to library
operations in FY2007-08, followed by an 8% cut to the
library materials budget in FY2008-2009… The FSU
cuts…resulted in the cancellation of over 30
databases….Now the libraries of the Florida State
University System are reporting that, on average, they
are being asked to plan for additional 10% budget cuts
in FY2009-2010. Something has got to give.”
“In a February 20, 2009 Times Online article,
…chief executive of …, reported a “21 per
cent increase in adjusted full year pre-tax
profits.” … also predicted “that 80 per
cent of the business would enjoy growth
during 2009, despite the grim economic
backdrop.” The article concludes by
noting that shares “have risen by 25 per
cent during …'s tenure” – roughly the same
time period during which the Florida SUS
have themselves so heavily invested in …
content.”
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2009 2010 2011 2012
Millions(in2009dollars)
Florida SUS Proposal
Publisher Proposed Fees
SUL Buying Power
SUL Proposal
NEGOTIATING: INTERNAL ISSUES
• Make sure all your constituents are on the same
page.
• Set your collective expectations high.
• Know where your points of compromise are.
• Use the need to confer with internal groups to buy
time, avoid making commitments under pressure.
NEGOTIATING: EXTERNAL ISSUES
• Identify and negotiate with the decision maker from
the beginning.
• Meet in person if at all possible, at least initially.
• Set the agenda and tone for the meeting.
• Set your expectations high.
• Retain the right to keep information confidential.
• Be prepared to answer (or not answer) difficult
questions.
• Use the publisher’s terminology as appropriate.
NEGOTIATING : COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
• Listen. Hard.
• Probe for information.
• Allow for silences.
• Take a break if tempers get flared.
• Summarize points of agreement and understanding
periodically and document them.
• Be yourself, but know your strengths and
weaknesses.
MOST IMPORTANTLY!
Personal integrity is of the utmost
importance. Never lie or promise
something you can’t deliver.
BUILDING A NEGOTIATION SUPPORT
SYSTEM
• Develop a network of support on your campus
• Purchasing Office
• Office of General Counsel
• Business Librarian
• Develop Licensing Guidelines to serve as objective
criteria for contracts
• MOU for libraries outside your system
• Consider using a negotiation team
• Attend a corporate negotiation seminar
LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES AND
SUCCESSES
• No one was born an expert negotiator!
• Assess each negotiation experience
• What went right, what went wrong?
• What could I have done better?
• How did I feel emotionally?
• Forgive yourself for mistakes
• Continue to experiment and adjust your negotiation
style as you learn and grow
RECOMMENDED READING
• Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without
Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William Ury.
• Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies
for Reasonable People, by G. Richard Shell.
QUESTIONS?
Contact me:
Claire T. Dygert
Florida Virtual Campus
352-415-6829
cdygert@flvc.org