3.5 Contracts, Licenses, and Liabilities #
3.5.1 - The repository shall have and maintain appropriate contracts or deposit agreements for digital materials that it manages, preserves, and/or to which it provides access. #
Response #
OCUL has identified the preservation rights necessary to enact SP’s Preservation Strategic Plan. To the extent possible, OCUL ensures that these rights are present in Provider license agreements. These agreements codify preservation rights, transfer procedures, transfer of responsibility, and the limits of liability.
See 3.5.1.1 , 3.5.1.2 , 3.5.1.3 , and 3.5.1.4 for full details.
Responsibility #
- OCUL Directors
- OCUL Projects Officer
- SP Director
- Digital Preservation Librarian
Documents #
- OCUL Model Licenses
- Relevant Legislation
- Record of rights transferred by Provider (available on request)
- License Management Workflow
3.5.1.1 - The repository shall have contracts or deposit agreements which specify and transfer all necessary preservation rights, and those rights transferred shall be documented. #
Response #
In order to fully enact SP’s Preservation Strategic Plan, the following preservation rights are necessary:
- local load
- perpetual access
- transformation
SP will accept preservation responsibility for materials from Providers who will only agree to local load and perpetual access, but these materials will be preserved at the less rigorous “bit-level” preservation level. In order to qualify for the “full” preservation level, the Provider must also agree to a clause enabling transformative preservation. For additional details on these rights, see the Preservation Implementation Plan.
Prior to being signed, each contract with a Provider is evaluated to determine which of these preservation rights it supports. OCUL maintains a list of all such Providers and the rights transferred.
For an example of the rights that OCUL will attempt to negotiate, please see the OCUL Model Licenses. Please note that wording may differ between licenses.
Responsibility #
- OCUL Projects Officer
- Digital Preservation Librarian
Documents #
- Scholars Portal Preservation Strategic Plan
- Preservation Implementation Plan
- OCUL Model Licenses
- Record of rights transferred by Provider (available on request)
3.5.1.2 - The repository shall have specified all appropriate aspects of acquisition, maintenance, access, and withdrawal in written agreements with depositors and other relevant parties. #
Response #
SP’s use of the material, including all practices around acquisition, maintenance, access provision, and withdrawal are specified in the contract signed with each Provider. Where possible, OCUL encourages Providers to use a standard license such as the OCUL Model License or the CRKN license.
Licenses are negotiated between the two parties until all appropriate aspects of the contract are defined. This process follows the OCUL License Management Workflow.
Responsibility #
- OCUL Projects Officer
- Digital Preservation Librarian
- Metadata Librarian
Documents #
3.5.1.3 - The repository shall have written policies that indicate when it accepts preservation responsibility for contents of each set of submitted data objects #
Response #
SP accepts preservation responsibility for submitted data objects at the time the PREMIS event denoting the completion of the Ingest (or Replacement) process is complete. While our Providers generally do not want to know when this has occurred, this information is available on request.
This practice is currently not codified in any official OCUL or SP policy, but will be incorporated into the appropriate policy at the next policy documentation review.
Future Plans #
This policy will be written into the appropriate policy document at the next policy documentation review.
Responsibility #
- Digital Preservation Librarian
Documents #
3.5.1.4 - The repository shall have policies in place to address liability and challenges to ownership/rights. #
Response #
In order to minimize potential liability and challenges to rights, SP’s operations adhere to all relevant laws and regulations. Furthermore, SP and OCUL negotiate licenses with Providers that clearly specify all rights related to the repository’s preservation activities. When necessary, SP and OCUL seek legal counsel for matters related to contracts and regulatory compliance.
Responsibility #
- OCUL Directors
- OCUL Projects Officer
- Digital Preservation Librarian
Documents #
3.5.2 - The repository shall track and manage intellectual property rights and restrictions on use of repository content as required by deposit agreement, contract, or license. #
Response #
SP tracks and manages intellectual property rights and restrictions on preserved content in two contexts:
- SP’s rights to preserve the content - The preservation rights transferred by executed contracts are kept in a central document, and are updated by parties who are involved in the negotiation process and familiar with the rights necessary for preservation under SP’s Preservation Strategic Plan. This information is also referenced in the preservation metadata for each object through a reference to the contract and an element denoting the object’s preservation level. These pieces of information are stored at the object and individual file levels, respectively. Please see Metadata Specifications.
- Members of the Designated Community’s access to content in the repository - Members of SP’s Designated Community will only have access to those resources which they have licensed, either through OCUL, CRKN, or institutionally. This access also includes any open access resources loaded into Scholars Portal. This access is enforced through the use of an entitlements module within the SP system, which tracks what materials are to be made available through the end-user interface. Please see Scholars Portal Access Policy.
Responsibility #
- OCUL Projects Officer
- Digital Preservation Librarian
- Metadata Librarian
- Software Developer