Unit 4, Part 1: Licensing vs. Understanding

House of UCITA vs. House of SERU:
Two opposing philosophies of publisher-library relations.

UCITA: Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act of 1999. Similar to Uniform Commercial code, but intended for software instead of goods. Proposed state contract law that attempts to standardize the way that licensing is done. Libraries and others criticize UCITA as being skewed towards the interests of copyright holders

SERU:Shared Electronic Resource Understanding is a project hosted by NISO that attempts to articulate a set of understandings that libraries and publishers can agree on. The idea is that the costly, time-consuming process of license negotiation can be forgone, if participating libraries and publishers instead choose to operate on a level of trust based on common understandings.

Difference one:
Length and understandability:

UCITA is very long (200 pages) and very complicated. So much so that the American Bar Association said that they needed to set up tutorial groups to help each other understand what exactly UCITA was saying.

SERU is short and sweet (less than 10 pages) and written to be understandable.

Difference two.
Underlying principle/tone:

UCITA assumes that publishers are vulnerable and need to protect themselves from their users via ironclad licensing. The obsession with detail in UCITA sets a tone of combativeness:

UCITA effectively encourages publishers to maximize their short-term profits at the cost of longer term socially beneficial goals such as innovation, research and free speech( Franklin, 2003, p.1)

SERU assumes that publishers and libraries need each other, and want to work together as smoothly as possible. SERU sets a tone of shared understanding between publishers and libraries, where socially beneficial goals get a place at the table.

Difference three:
To license or not to license:

UCITA stands for uniformed standardized licensing, licensing and more licensing.

SERU stands for license-free baby (although license-free is not the same as contract-free).


Difference four.
Popularity...?

After over a decade since its 1999 proposal date, only two states have adopted UCITA. Other states have adopted "bombshelter" legislation to protect consumers from UCITA.

SERU was developed in 2007. In 2008 it was released as as NISO recommended practice RP-7-2008. There are over twenty publishers, forty academic libraries, and four consortia that have signed up to participate (Lamoureux & Bernhardt, 2008, p. 152).

References:

Franklin, J. (2003). The perils of clicking I agree: UCITA and intellectual freedom. Alki, 19(1), 10-12.

Lamoureux, S., & Bernhardt, B. (2009). Innovations: Where are they now? The Serials Librarian, 56(1-4), 146-154.

*image taken from Wikimedia Commons. Drawing of "Romeo and Juliet Act 1, Scene 1" by Sir John Gilbert. In the public domain because it has been more than 70 years since death of creator.