IPRO

The International Publishers' Rights Organisation was established in 1995 by the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers STM to represent international publishers in the collection and distribution of copyright fees from educational institutions, libraries and other users. This concerns mainly fees for copying and re-use from books and magazines for (digital) coursepack readers and document delivery, in The Netherlands and elsewhere.

In The Netherlands, IPRO is one of the parties in the Dutch Reader Program. Dutch legislation allows by means of a copyright exception for the copying of short sections and short works for educational purposes, like course pack readers, provided a proper financial compensation is made. In order to ensure fair remuneration for this kind of educational use IPRO, together with the Dutch UvO (Uitgeversorganisatie voor Onderwijslicenties) and the Dutch MediaFederatie (Dutch Publishers Association) has entered into voluntary agreements with the umbrella organisations of universities and hbo (Higher Vocational Education) institutions. This Easy Access Program contains detailed information regarding the agreed use by the educational institutes, the agreed compensations and the legal conditions. Read more.