Re: licensing and lawyers

[Adele_Bane-1@sbphrd.com]

I'm compelled to respond to the posting by Pam Matthews which stated in
part:

"our Finance and Administration officers are now noticing that lawyers'
time doesn't come cheap and are thinking about not having any agreements
reviewed by counsel.  They don't seem to think they'll get sued -- after
all, no one has yet, right?"

I would suggest you refer them to this recent Philadelphia Inquirer article:

     Unlicensed-software claim is costly to Temple

     Philadelphia Inquirer, March 3, 2000, C1-2

     According to the Inquirer, Temple University has agreed to pay
$100,000 to settle claims that unlicensed software had been installed on
campus computers.  Temple is not admitting to copyright infringement, but
is paying "to avoid the time and expense of protracted litigation."

     The claim against Temple was brought forward by the Business Software
Alliance, a nonprofit organization that polices software licensing and
piracy, based on a tip on it's antipiracy hot line.  According to an
Alliance spokesperson, Temple is not alone receiving such fines.  Other
educational institutions to pay these settlements include:

          -Berks Technical Institute:              $102,500 in April, 1998

          -Los Angeles Unified School District:    $300,000

In our corporate environment, we routinely have a lawyer review database
and ejournal contracts to verify, among other things, the "permitted uses"
of the content.  The digital environment has increased the protectionist
feelings of content providers, and we are being safe as opposed to the
alternative.

Good luck with your campaign.  You are totally justified in your concerns.

Adele Bane, Senior Librarian
SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals R&D


pmatthew@gettysburg.edu on 09-Mar-2000 18:06
Please respond to liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu

To:   liblicense-l
cc:    (bcc: Adele Bane-1/CIS/PHRD/SB_PLC)
Subject:  licensing and lawyers

Hi, everyone.

I attended the ARL licensing seminar last May.  The presenters (all of
whom are VERY good) put the fear of God into me about signing off on
licenses that leave the college vulnerable to breach-of-contract lawsuits
and/or don't give the college its full rights under Fair Use guidelines.

The presenters impressed upon us that the best way to make sure that a
license is watertight is to have a lawyer and a librarian BOTH review it.
Therefore, I've been working to get a system in place to do just that.

However, our Finance and Administration officers are now noticing that
lawyers' time doesn't come cheap and are thinking about not having any
agreements reviewed by counsel.  They don't seem to think they'll get sued
-- after all, no one has yet, right?

So, I have a two fold question:

1) How does your institution handle the negotiation and review of license
agreements?

2) Do you know of any lawsuits or other problems arising from breaches?

Thanks VERY much for your help on this!

Pam

____________________________
Pam Matthews
Acquisitions/Serials Librarian
Musselman Library
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg, PA  17325
717-337-7007 (phone) ** 717-337-6666 (fax)
pmatthew@gettysburg.edu