This series of three articles began in the March/April 2001 issue with a look at the rights and obligations included in licenses. It will conclude in the next issue, July/August 2001, with an examination of licensing content for global deployment.

Licenses for the use of digital content can either be non-negotiable, such as the shrink-wrap or click-wrap agreements that accompany computer software, or negotiable. With a non-negotiable agreement, you must agree with the terms and conditions if you wish to use the content. In a negotiable agreement, you can discuss and agree to what terms and conditions under which you want to use the content. Note that sometimes even non-negotiable licenses are negotiable and "it never hurts to ask."
 

Preparing for Negotiation
Preparation is the key to productive negotiations with content owners. When you are licensing content for your intranet, such as a journal article, you must first ask yourself how you will be using this particular content on your intranet. What are the needs of the intranet users and how will you ensure that these needs are met in the agreement? Write out a list of all the things that you and your intranet users might do with the content. For instance, will users require the rights to print out the content or e-mail it to colleagues?
 

[Complete article available in print] 
 

 

Contents	Intranet Professional Home