PACA and Cengage Look to the Future of Licensing

PACA is pleased to announce that the Editorial Relations Committee (ERC) has completed its review of the new Cengage Insert Agreement.The ERC was initiated in October 2010, in part to rebuild communications and good will with editorial and educational publishers, which had become strained. In addition, publishers desired to use images in new ways and introduced contracts with new definitions. Members were frustrated with the long delays in reviewing these new agreements and understanding new terms. ERC hoped to work with publishers to improve the working relationship.At the 2012 PACA annual meeting, Ken Carson of Cengage spoke to PACA members about Cengage’s new philosophy in licensing, and its desire to create agreements which are more in line with the way publishing is evolving, with no print runs but transparency in reporting usage and annual reviews of license terms.After the meeting, Ken reached out to PACA to see if he could work with the ERC to ensure that the new Cengage agreement presented a balanced approach to licensing, provided clear terms and considered the concerns of the membership.For the last eight months, the ERC and Cengage met in person on several occasions and exchanged comments. We believe that the resulting contract clearly communicates the rights Cengage requests, and reflects a balanced agreement with transparency of reporting, with opportunities to revisit the terms in the future. What it does not do is establish any pricing. This is for each member to negotiate individually.The goal was to introduce an agreement that avoids long delays in reviewing defined terms as well as legal review fees. For those working with other publishers, we do not believe this is the only form, but one option that we believe works for both partiesThe ERC and Cengage are pleased with the outcome of their efforts and look forward to a continued cooperative relationship. For more information, contact editorialrelations@pacaoffice.org or Michael Baynes at Michael.Baynes@cengage.com.