Welcome to Liblicense!

DLIB magazine feature on Liblicense

Increasingly, university and research libraries are being inundated with information that has been created in digital format and transmitted and accessed via computers. As the number of collections in digital formats increase exponentially, more and more libraries and information providers are facing a number of unique challenges presented by this relatively new medium.

Chief among these new challenges is crafting agreements with information owners that adequately assure libraries will continue to provide users with comprehensive and timely access to information in digital formats. Because of several unique properties of digital information, agreements that govern the acquistion and maintenance of traditional paper collections are inadequate in the digital information context. Unlike paper materials, digital information generally is not purchased by the library; rather it is licensed by the library from information providers. A license usually takes the form of a written contract or agreement between the library and the owner of the rights to distribute digital information.

As many librarians responsible for collections know all too well, licensing agreements often are complex, lengthy documents filled with arcane and unfamiliar terms such as indemnity, severability and force majeure. In an effort to assist librarians (and information providers as well) to understand the issues raised by these licensing agreements, we have prepared an Analysis of Licensing Agreements for Digital Information. The pages that follow include a collection of common terms usually found in licensing agreements, along with a discussion of the pros and cons of specific language in such agreements. We have tried to present language that we believe to be fair and workable for libraries and information providers as well. We have also included examples of provisions that we believe are unduly burdensome or otherwise do not adequately reflect the needs of libraries in providing digital information to their users.

We hope that these materials will serve as a useful starting point towards providing librarians with a better understanding of the issues raised by licensing agreements in the digital age.

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