Good Afternoon
It is clear from the number of times people ask about the topic that there is often confusion around when things are governed by a licence agreement, a contract or a set of terms and conditions; and when one can rely on a copyright exception. Indeed, the inter-relationship between copyright and contract is integral to the licensing of digital content.
In the past, with only a few exceptions, contract law could completely override copyright. This meant that people could potentially end up paying for the privilege of being able to do even less than copyright law would have allowed them to do, depending on precisely what contract terms they had signed up to. Thankfully, a series of changes to copyright law which took place during the course of 2014 mean that some of the most important copyright exceptions now contain provisions within them to prevent anyone being able to use contract law to override those exceptions. There isn’t, however, a general clause in the legislation to ensure that copyright exceptions will always trump anything contained in a contract.
Negotiating the price you pay for digital content is obviously important, but it should not be seen in isolation from the terms of the agreement that you negotiating. The value that you get from an online subscription will depend not just on how much you paid, but on precisely what the licence terms allow you to do. For example, who can be considered to be an “authorised user” of the service; does the licence allow you to make the service available to people in a number of different locations which may or may not be in the same country; and what exactly are users permitted to do with the information. Another example would be whether the licence is for a single user, or a single simultaneous user. The difference between the two can mean the difference between only one named user being able to use the service, and everyone in the organisation potentially being able to use the service even if they are spread across dozens of offices in multiple countries, provided that only one person at a time is accessing the content.
TFPL’s Digital Licensing course delivered by Paul Pedley will be taking place on 29th October 2015 examines these issues. It looks at the key elements of a typical licence agreement. It gives examples of some of the pitfalls to look out for, and the places within the agreement that they are most likely to be found. You can book your place now using the link below:
http://courses.tfpl.com/services/coursedesc.cfm?id=TR1447&pageid=-9&cs1=digital%20lic&cs2=
If you have any questions or queries or to reserve your place please do get in touch.
Best wishes
Maria
Maria Naylor - Learning Solutions Manager
DD: +44 (0) 20 77517169 | M: +44 (0)7972 537224 | [log in to unmask] | tfpl.com
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