Thankyou to Gayle Davies our spotter in Australia for bring this to our attention.
This, as they say, is a big deal.
ICLR Online Law Reports to be removed from International Licensees in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (‘ICLR’) has started the process of disaggregating its law reports from the online services operated by LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
The process of removing ICLR content from these providers will take effect on 1 January 2017. Thereafter, the ICLR – the publisher of the official series of reports for England and Wales – The Law Reports – will provide its case law service directly to lawyers, judges, academics and students in these regions through its established online platform, ICLR Online.
Subscribers to these services based in the United Kingdom and Ireland will not be affected, nor will print subscribers.
What will change?
From 1 January 2017, law reports published by The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR) will no longer be available to
subscribers of the online services provided by LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
What ICLR content is affected?
Access to the following ICLR series of law reports will be affected by this announcement:
- The Law Reports (1865 to present) – the official series of law reports in England and Wales. The series is divided into four divisions: Appeal
Cases (AC), Chancery (Ch), Family (Fam) and Queen’s Bench (QB). - The Weekly Law Reports (1953 to present) – ICLR’s core generalist series of law reports, known by the abbreviation “WLR”.
- The Industrial Cases Reports (1972 to present) – ICLR’s employment and industrial relations specialist series, known by the abbreviation “ICR”.
- The Business Law Reports (2007 to present) – ICLR’s company and commercial law specialist series, known by the abbreviation “Bus LR”.
- The Public and Third Sector Law Reports (2009 to present) – ICLR’s public law specialist series, known by the abbreviation “PTSR”.
What will happen to the archive of ICLR content on the affected services?
From 1 January 2017, all ICLR content currently available on the affected services will be removed from those services.
Who will this affect?
This will affect you if you access content published by ICLR through the online services provided by LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters in the following confirmed territories:
- Australia
- Canada
- New Zealand
- The United States of America
These are the territories in which the removal of ICLR content has been confirmed as of the date of this document, and other territories may be added over the course of 2016.
The following subscribers will not be affected by this announcement:
- Subscribers based in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
- Subscribers based anywhere in the world whose subscription to the relevant service is signed under a global contract.
If you are unsure whether this announcement affects you it is important that you contact ICLR as soon as possible. You can reach us by telephone on +44 207 242 6471 or by email at [email protected].
When will this affect me?
The removal of ICLR content from the affected territories will take effect on 1 January 2017.
If you are renewing an annual subscription with LexisNexis or Thomson Reuters in 2016 that includes access to ICLR content, access to that content will end as of 1 January 2017.
Do I need to do anything before 1 January 2017?
Yes. If you wish to continue to be provided with access to The Law Reports, The Weekly Law Reports and other ICLR content, it is essential that you contact ICLR as soon as possible on +44 207 242 6471 or by email at [email protected].
When you contact us, we will do the following:
- Ask you to provide us with information about the services you use and where you use them
- Confirm whether or not this announcement affects you
- Develop a planned transition to ICLR Online tailored to your needs
Will this cost me more money?
ICLR is a registered charity and operates on a not-for-profit basis. Our only concern is to ensure that we provide you with the most accurate and authoritative account of English common law and to generate only sufficient income to cover our operating costs. Our subscription rates reflect this.
What is ICLR Online and how do I find out more about it?
ICLR Online is our proprietary online research platform. Launched in 2011, ICLR Online provides access to the entire archive of ICLR’s law reports, along with summary and index content exclusive to ICLR.
ICLR Online has been designed to cater for focused, in-depth case law research and was developed from the ground up to provide an intuitive, integrated platform tailored to deliver the content we author and publish.
The best way to familiarise yourself and your users with ICLR Online is to try the service out for yourself. We offer periods of free trial access during which you can explore the content and functionality available. You can also find out more at our website, iclr.co.uk, or by contacting us on +44 207 242 6471 or by email at [email protected].
Why is the ICLR disaggregating now?
Since the formation of the ICLR in 1865, we have been committed to serving the legal profession in common law jurisdictions and have become the pre-eminent provider of UK case law, both in terms of the number of cases upon which we report and the quality of those reports.
Licensing our law reports to commercial publishers was an important development as we moved from print to online. However, following the celebration last year of ICLR’s 150th anniversary, we must now prepare for the future. To enable us to continue providing the high quality and timely law reports for which we are known – in an increasingly digitised and competitive environment – we must be in control of the content that we author and publish.
What should I do now?
Contact us on [email protected] or call us on + 44 207 242 6471.
In Australia and New Zealand, contact our agents, TimeBase on [email protected] or call 1800 077 088.
