After years of encountering e-resource licenses, model licenses, and guidelines, what’s left to say about e-resource licensing? Plug in some standardized language or locally required clauses and you’re all set. Good enough? Maybe, maybe not.
E-resources licenses – contracts, in fact – are powerful legal documents with the potential to protect you as much as the vendor. There are no throwaway clauses or words. Every single one is there for a reason, whether you understand it or not. Pay attention to these ‘sleeper clauses,' those seemingly mundane lines that look like just boilerplate language. Especially consider those which are not there. Understand the real-world benefits of ‘good’ sleeper clauses. They matter.