New licensing terms for Springer eBooks and journals expand online learning permissions

Articles and chapters are now freely available for use in non-commercial online educational settings produced by licensed customers

New York | Heidelberg, 6 October 2015

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 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. 

“Springer is committed to building new and innovative ways to support research and education,” said Syed Hasan, President Global Sales at Springer. “Our offer for online learning permissions language is yet another way we’re allowing our users to unleash their creativity and enhance the value they receive from Springer products. As online learning continues to grow, Springer is implementing ways to meet the demands of today’s users.”

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.

Springer Nature (www.springernature.com) is a major new force in scientific, scholarly, professional and educational publishing. By using its combined expertise, scale and the reach of our brands, the company aims to grow and innovate in order to better serve academic researchers, students, teachers, institutions, professionals and the wider public by helping them discover more. Springer Nature was created through the combination of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media in May 2015. This strategic merger brought together these dynamic publishing houses with more than 170 years of history behind them, as well as complementary geographic footprints and brand portfolios, a track record of creativity and innovation, and a shared vision to advance knowledge and learning around the world. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion.