Quiz time!
True or False: A license agreement is a legal contract and because it is a legal contract, faculty and staff may not be allowed to accept the terms and conditions of some license agreements on behalf of the university without seeking approval from UF Procurement even when the software product or service is free?
If you said that the answer is TRUE, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back because you are correct.
A license agreement is indeed a legal contract between two parties, known as the licensor and the licensee. Typically, license agreements grant the licensee the right to use a product under certain conditions. In exchange, the licensee usually submits to a series of terms and conditions under which the product may be used.
Many license agreements will not pose a problem because they use standard canned language, or even a standard license agreement that has already been approved. Examples include software that is licensed under the GPL, BSD or MIT licenses.
However, some license agreements have stipulations in them that could pose problems for the university. Examples include licenses that require the university to transfer ownership of data, require an individual to violate UF policies, or go against state or federal laws.
Navigating the landscape of license agreements may be daunting and most of us lack the legal background to understand all of the nuances about what is, or is not, allowed. Because of this, UF Procurement has stated:
Purchases with terms – Any agreements containing terms and conditions, or other such verbiage, including Maintenance Agreements, Software License Agreements, etc., requiring signature must be forwarded to Procurement Services where they will be reviewed and signed. (source: https://procurement.ufl.edu/uf-departments/directives-procedures/)
In addition to software/services that require a purchase, license agreements for some free software/services may have legal entanglements. Because of this, if the software/service is using a non-standard agreement, it should be forwarded to procurement for review.
You may submit a license agreement to procurement from the MyUF Market Place, accessible from within MyUFL.
If you do not have access to MyUF Market, your DSA or Departmental Admin Staff should be able to help you gain access to MyUF Market.