Springer Announces New Opt-In Licensing Terms For Ebooks and Journals Used on Non-Commercial Educational Platforms
From a Springer Announcement:
Starting in October 2015, Springer, part of the newly formed publishing group Springer Nature, will offer customers a way to make their online educational initiatives even more attractive.
A unique offer to licensed institutions will allow them to embed, at no extra charge, up to 30 specialized links to Springer eBook and journal content into any non-commercial educational platforms. These could include, for example, learning management systems, MOOC platforms or in-house platforms.
The offer, called Online Learning Language, is available to institutions in most parts of the world [our emphasis, see below] that purchase Springer’s front list content and applies to Springer’s contemporary library of over 4.7 million articles and book chapters.
This first-of-its-kind, opt-in language allows libraries to deliver value even deeper into their respective institutions, increase usage to subscribed content and eliminate the legal concerns of permitted use and authorized users in global educational settings. Once added to the license, an institution can create a course, embed links to Springer-subscribed content and offer it freely to a global classroom, worry-free, without changing established workflows.
[Clip]
Online Learning Language is retroactive to all Springer eBooks back to copyright year 2005 and Springer journals as far back as copyright year 1997 or first year of publication, whichever is most recent. Also included in the offer are Palgrave eBooks which became part of the eBook portfolio in the recent merger. Eligible content is limited to academic documents licensed to customers who fully renew the newest copyright year of their previously licensed content.
Direct to Online Learning Language Info Page
Note: From the FAQ:
Q. Are there any regional restrictions?
A. Yes. Institutions in the following countries are not approved to add this license language:
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Denmark
Latvia
Lithuania
Estonia
Iceland
all African nations
A Couple of Questions Asked by infoDOCKET with Answers from Springer
Q. How often can articles be changed out?
A. Some customers will reach their maximum number of links and would like to swap for links to new content. Licensed customers may swap or change each selected link once per semester for a maximum of two times per year. Upon request from the licensed customer, Springer will deactivate the deselected link—as provided by the customer—and provide a new link.”
Q. With ebooks, how will the number of links be determined?
A. Each eBook is counted as a summation of its individual chapters. One link will be provided for each chapter.
Filed under: Libraries, Management and Leadership, News, Patrons and Users, Publishing, Springer Nature

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.