Representatives of Subito e.V., a Berlin-based consortium of scientific libraries in German-speaking countries, and representatives of various international and German STM publishers have endorsed the text of a framework agreement. The agreement relates to the delivery of scientific documents within four German-speaking countries - Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Finalised after extensive negotiations, the agreement permits member libraries of the Subito consortium to reproduce and electronically deliver any article requested by students, private persons or business within the four countries.
The latest pact complements the international framework agreement concluded between various STM publishers and Subito in July 2006. The framework has been agreed on the basis of the new German Copyright Act entering into force in January 2008.
The agreement now endorsed enables the conclusion of individual licensing agreements for an initial five-year term. These agreements will authorise Subito and its member libraries to use the content of published scientific journals for electronic document delivery. Publishers set a rate for the delivery of documents to private persons and for businesses. Students, public and non-commercial libraries as well as academics will benefit from a substantial discount under the agreement.
In the coming months Subito will seek to conclude individual agreements with numerous national and international scientific publishers. Once the new German Copyright Act comes into effect - scheduled for January 2008 - the member libraries of the Subito consortium will be authorised to electronically deliver documents published from thousands of important scientific journals also.
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