Ask Us: Scholarly Communications

New York State affords legal protections to UAlbany employees against personal liability in the event that such employees are sued individually as a result of any cause of action which may arise while the employee was acting with in their scope of duties in connection with a DUA.  

Because University faculty members and most staff do not have legal authority to bind the institution to contractual agreements, including DUAs, such employees risk personal liability should they fail to follow the University’s DUA intake and review process.  

Additionally, there are increasing numbers of new or evolving federal and state regulations regarding responsible use of data. The current research landscape is dynamic and complex. Accordingly, DUAs contain more complicated terms and conditions that require in-depth review by a team of professional University stakeholders. For example, the designated team of professionals can identify potentially problematic terms relating to specific data security standards (HIPAA, GDPR, NIST, etc.); warranties; cybersecurity data breaches; third party infringement of intellectual property; publication restrictions; choice of law; limitations on liability; and indemnification, to name a few. This new process will help safeguard UAlbany researchers and their work.