Scientific document delivery agreement endorsed

Representatives of Subito e.V., scientific libraries, and various international publishers have endorsed a framework agreement within four German speaking countries - Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

The terms of the agreement permit the member libraries of the Subito consortium to reproduce and electronically deliver any scientific documents requested by students, private persons or business. This agreement complements the international framework agreement between a number of STM publishers and Subito e.V. concluded in July 2006.

The framework has been agreed on the basis of the new German Copyright Act coming into effect this month. The agreement enables the conclusion of individual licensing agreements for an initial five-year term. Publishers set a rate for the delivery of the documents to private persons and for businesses. Students, public and non-commercial libraries as well as academics are expected to benefit from a substantial discount under the agreement.