Tomas Lipinski has written what should be the definitive work on licensing information resources and services. The work is part four of The Legal Advisor for Librarians, Educators, and Information Professionals. It is designed to inform the information professional on legal issues that impact on libraries and information services departments. The series is published by Neal-Schuman which is an imprint of the always reliable American Library Association. With 743 pages it is not a light read but the extensive subject and case index allows for easy access.
Lipinski states a license agreement is a contract, “that does not generally result in the transfer of ownership right in physical objects […] wherein one party grants permission to the other to engage in some course of conduct” (see p. 4).
The work is divided into three sections. Section One discusses generally US contract law. These chapters give the reader a basic understanding of how the US Courts interpret contract law and license agreements.
In Section Two, Lipinski analyses the types of license agreements library and information departments would encounter every day. Lipinski discusses in extensive detail everything from shrink-wrap contracts to basic music and media licenses.
Finally in Section Three, Lipinski annotates four common library licenses. In this section Lipinski takes four common license agreements and deconstructs the contracts legalese. After each clause Lipinski states in easy to understand language how the contract is attempting to regulate the parties behaviour.
This is a fantastic book and needs to be in every library, large or small. Intellectual property law is an area of law that is fraught with difficulties, particularly since the rise of the internet. Lipinski not only analyses the law by discussing the numerous cases and legislation, he spends a great deal of time and effort in synthesising the law and placing it in context.
Most of the book analyses how licensing agreements impact on the day-to-day lives of library and information services. This is not a basic law book on licensing but rather a guide on how library and information services departments should respond to licensing agreements.
The format of the book also allows any person to develop an understanding of license agreements. Each chapter contains very useful summary points and learning examples. The learning examples in each chapter take everyday library experiences and states how the licence agreement would respond. Extremely useful in helping the non-legal person understand how licensing law works.
Whilst the work is written with an American audience in mind and the book analyses how the US law applies license agreements. Many of the concepts in the laws and legislation are shared across other common law jurisdictions. The major difference between US law and other common law countries seems to me is in the area of damages and the way the law responds to breaches of license agreements. If you have this book on hand you should never arrive at the need to discuss damages.
(Acknowledgement: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2013 QQML Conference in Rome, Italy, 4-7 June).
