Re: L'Annee Philologique

["Dave Fisher" <Dave@library.ucsd.edu>]

I'm curious how others (and Les Belles Lettres)  would regard the
following language as an alternative for their "governing law" clause.
This was suggested to me by a well known european publisher with Berlin
headquarters that I'm currently negotiating with for a site license.

"If any difference arises between the parties on the meaning of this
licence or their rights and obligations, it shall first be referred to an
independent expert appointed by an agreement of the parties. Any expert so
appointed shall act as expert and not as an arbitrator and his decision
(which shall be given by him in writing stating the reasons for his
decision) shall be final and binding on the parties. Each party shall
provide the expert with such information as he may reasonably require for
the purpose of his decision. The costs of the expert shall be borne by the
parties in such proportions as the expert may determine to be fair and
reasonable or, if no determination is made by the expert, by the parties
in equal proportions."

This closely parallels the language found in the NESLI Draft License on
the Liblicense page for National Licensing Initiatives. I discussed this
with a colleague at the CDL and we both like it because it is jurisdiction
neutral, keeps both parties out of the courts and provides a fair
mechanism to both sides for resolving differences.

Dave Fisher
UCSD Libraries