A license agreement is a legal contract, a mutually acceptable set of understandings and commitments often arrived at through discussion and negotiation. With the traditional print practice of ownership through purchase being replaced by access through license, libraries need to be aware that licensing arrangements may restrict how their users can use licensed works. Increasingly, a new form of license negotiation is emerging as libraries license access to their collections for mass digitization.
ARL works with other library associations to develop guidelines and strategies for licensing, and foster a dialogue among information providers and research libraries.
