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NESLI and the creators (was RE: NESLI Licence available)

I wish I could share Anthony Watkinson's radiant confidence about "content
creators" becoming able "to communicate optimally" thanks to the UK
National Electronic Site Licence Initiative (NESLI). 

As a matter of record, content creators have had no say in NESLI. Despite
numerous efforts by representative bodies to become involved (dating back
to the Pilot Site Licence Initiative) they have been refused participation
in the discussions leading up to the framing of the current licence, and
are puzzled, to say the least, that publishers are granting users certain
rights (photocopying of NESLI output, use in course-packs, "value-added"
(read "commercial") services) which they may not have in respect of
specific items to be included in NESLI licences. 

Given the rights situation, I would be very wary indeed about publishers'
burblings of beamish optimism in relation to NESLI at this point. 

Christopher Zielinski, Secretary General
Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society
Marlborough Court, 14-18 Holborn, London EC1N 2LE, UK
tel: 01713950600 - fax: 01713950660
http://www.alcs.co.uk  email: chris.zielinski@alcs.co.uk

-----Original Message-----
From:	anthony.watkinson [SMTP:anthony.watkinson@BTinternet.com]
Sent:	24 July 1998 11:15
To:	liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject:	Re: NESLI Licence available @ www.nesli.ac.uk

Those who access liblicense outside the UK may like to know that the form
of this license now available involves some significant redrafting which
brings some key clauses into line with the portmanteau "model licence" 
sanctioned by the task-oriented group assembled for the purpose of finding
joint solutions to key questions in the electronic arena by the (UK) 
Publishers Association and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) 
of the Higher Education Funding Council of England and Wales (HEFCE) i.e. 
publishers, librarians and government funding. The changes (suggested
essentially by Sally Morris) were accepted easily. The whole process shows
what can be achieved given goodwill, a spirit of compromise and a
recognition that all parts of the information chain have their place if
content creators are to communicate optimally with content users. Or so I
think... 

Anthony Watkinson