Through CCC's Copyright Integration Services, Ex Libris, a supplier of software solutions for libraries and information centers, and XanEdu, a publisher of online and offline course materials for the higher education market, now provide a way for their application users to lawfully reuse copyright protected materials.

The CCC Copyright Integration Services currently include these options:

• Permissions Gateway—a Web service consisting of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provide seamless integration between a software application and CCC's rights database
• Permissions Direct—a link from a software application or portal that connects to a specified area in CCC's Web site using OpenURL standards

Organizations can use either Permissions Gateway or Permissions Direct to integrate with CCC's rights database, depending on their systems, processes, and desired level of integration. These services can be used to support a variety of end-user needs, such as interlibrary loans, library reserves and e-reserves, course management, coursepack management, and document delivery.

XanEdu used the Permission Gateway to integrate CCC's licensing services and transaction engine into its production system to streamline the way it secures permissions for including materials lawfully in educational coursepacks. XanEdu employees have been using the service for several months.

David Prichard, XanEdu's vice president of sales and marketing, said: "During our peak season, we can process thousands of copyright licensing transactions in one week. We've seen a significant jump in productivity as a result of integrating our application with Copyright Clearance Center's rights database. By enabling our employees to obtain permission within our internal systems, we've eliminated repetitive data entry, increased accuracy, and improved our overall work flow."

Ex Libris is implementing a way to use CCC's licensing services through its SFX link server, which lets librarians create links to integrate a library's information resources. The CCC integration with SFX will provide librarians with a connection to collections services where content users can quickly access and request permission for the content they wish to reproduce. When this is released, expected to be within the next few weeks, it will be instantly available to all SFX users. An administrative module will let librarians designate if patrons can use the licensing service directly.

The CCC, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1978, claims to be "the world's largest agent of text reproduction rights." CCC provides licensing solutions in print and digital formats and manages rights relating to more than 1.75 million works belonging to more than 9,600 publishers and hundreds of thousands of authors and other creators. In addition, the company says it provides over 10,000 corporations and subsidiaries, as well as thousands of government agencies, law firms, document suppliers, libraries, academic institutions, copy shops, and bookstores, with comprehensive licensing services.

Commenting on the new integration deals that CCC has forged, consultant John Blossom, Shore Communications, Inc., wrote: "This should be very fruitful for CCC in both the long run and the short run. In the short run they've managed to target course materials that are high-ticket items with a strong potential for redistribution at a premium, while in the long run they're getting a new generation of users used to the idea of complying with copyright requirements voluntarily in an easy-to-use manner. Making money in content technologies is as much about cultivating profitable habits in users as it is in creating profitable content."

Marc Strohlein, an analyst at Outsell, Inc., said: "Copyright Clearance Center has taken a big step forward by cleanly integrating its licensing services into the flow of finding, accessing, and using information. Through its Copyright Integration Services, the company will not only simplify the lives of researchers and other information users, but will also make it easier for content users to comply with copyright law."

The CCC is definitely intent on providing an increasing number of channels for rightsholders and rights seekers to connect. "Copyright Clearance Center wants to put easy copyright licensing services everywhere users access content," said Tracey Armstrong, vice president, transactional services at CCC.

In June 2002, the CCC announced it was working with OCLC to incorporate CCC's Permissions Gateway into the OCLC ILLiad Resource Management Software. The gateway will link ILLiad to CCC's rights and permissions database, allowing librarians to report interlibrary loan transactions and clear permissions from CCC directly through OCLC ILLiad. The companies are still working on this, according to Armstrong.

She indicated that the CCC has been talking with a number of library automation vendors and was close to announcing some alliances. The company is also talking to content suppliers, aggregators, copy shops, document deliverers, and other high-volume users of its services about integrating rights licensing into an application's work flow. Armstrong added: "There's an almost endless supply of third-party possibilities for partnerships. 2004 will be a big year for CCC."