SNOMED Documentation Search
Organizations that develop or distribute products or services that include or provide
access to SNOMED CT must be IHTSDO Affiliates. Organizations that use SNOMED CT must
be either an IHTSDO Affiliate or a sub-licensee of an IHTSDO Affiliate. Becoming an
Affiliate of IHTSDO requires an Affiliate License, which is a contractual agreement
between IHTSDO and Affiliates.
Even though Affiliate Licenses are agreements between IHTSDO and Affiliates, Members
often act as intermediate agents between IHTSDO and Affiliates by issuing the licenses.
In this case, the NRC needs to provide information to IHTSDO about Affiliate Licenses
issued by them. The SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement is a worldwide license for
the use of the SNOMED CT International Edition. Acceptance of the License Agreement
entitles an Affiliate to download releases of the SNOMED CT International Edition.
Figure 4 All Affiliate License Agreements are with IHTSDO. However Members, as agents
of IHTSDO, mayissueAffiliate licenses.
Full details of the conditions of use of SNOMED CT are provided by the SNOMED CT Affiliate License agreement. The notes on the next page highlight a few key points about the availability of
Affiliate licenses, conditions of use and circumstances in which charges are applicable
for use of SNOMED CT.
Obtaining an IHTSDO Affiliate License |
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Use of SNOMED CT in Member countries |
IHTSDO does not charge for use of the SNOMED CT International Edition in Member countries. However, a Member is permitted to impose some conditions on use of SNOMED CT within its country. |
Use of SNOMED CT outside Member countries |
Affiliates are required to pay annual fees to IHTSDO for use in each hospital, clinic
and other institution in a country that is not a Member of IHTSDO. The charges for
this vary according to the wealth of the country.
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Provision of services that enable access to SNOMED CT in non-Member countries |
Companies or organizations providing apps, web portals and other software that incorporates
all or part of SNOMED CT, or publishing mappings or other materials that include all
or part of SNOMED CT require the permission of IHTSDO and a license for these activities.
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Web-based SNOMED CT browsers |
Web-based SNOMED CT browsers that allow SNOMED CT content to be viewed are currently regarded as a special case on which IHTSDO has published guidelines (see http://snomed.org/browserlicenseguidance). However, note that these guidelines only cover use to explore the content of SNOMED CT. They do not exempt those using SNOMED CT in Non-Member countries from obligation to pay fees for use. |
A Member may issue Affiliates with licenses for use of its National Extension of SNOMED
CT (including translations, content additions and Reference sets). These licenses
must include a requirement for the licensee to hold a SNOMED CT Affiliate License
for the International Release. One way to achieve this is to include a copy of the
SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement within the National License. In this case, care
must be taken to ensure that the copy of this agreement is regularly updated with
changes approved by IHTSDO.
The terms of the National License could be similar to the SNOMED CT Affiliate License
but with the Member as the licensor and the National Extension as the licensed work.
Alternatively, the National License might be part of a more general licensing policy
for nationally owned works. However, IHTSDO requires that a licensee of a National
Extension must also be a SNOMED CT Affiliate Licensee (i.e. a licensee with IHTSDO).
A Member can meet this requirement by registering the Licensee's acceptance of the
SNOMED CT Affiliate License Agreement.
Members can also impose additional requirements related to the use of the SNOMED
CT International Edition in their countries. For example, a Member may require licensees
to use of the National Extension when deploying SNOMED CT in its country.
The formal responsibility of the NRC is to maintain a register of all licenses granted
by the Member to Affiliates within the Member country. This register must include
information about:
The payment terms under the license (if any 1 )
If an Affiliate provides information about non-Member country use, the Member is obliged
to inform IHTSDO of this so that the correct fees can be charged. In the event of
termination of Membership, the former Member must submit the full register of all
licenses it has issued to IHTSDO within 30 days.
Members are encouraged to share information about Affiliates they have registered
that are based in or operating in other Member countries. They should also inform
Affiliates about obtaining a National License in their country of origin.
Figure 5 Members manage licenses issued to Affiliates for national use of SNOMED CT
IHTSDO Affiliates can issue sub-licenses, to allow organizations/users to use SNOMED
CT, as part of a software application or information system. An organization that
is not itself an IHTSDO Affiliate is only permitted to use SNOMED CT in accordance
with the terms of a sub-license issued by an IHTSDO Affiliate.
It is the Affiliate's responsibility to manage these sublicenses and make information
about them available to IHTSDO. Affiliates are also required to report and make appropriate
payments when SNOMED CT is used in non-Member countries.
Sub-licensing is not an NRC function but NRCs need to:
Figure 6 Sub-licenses are issued by Affiliates.
Members are not required to facilitate or manage sub-licenses. However, as the primary
point of contact for the national Affiliates, an NRC should be able to support and
guide Affiliates in matters related to the management of sub-licenses and to point
Affiliates to the appropriate source of information within IHTSDO.
Licensing and Distribution of SNOMED CT - Tools
IHTSDO provides a platform for licensing and distribution of SNOMED CT for its Member
countries. This service is named the Member Licensing and Distribution Services (MLDS)
and enables the NRC to have a web based portal in the preferred language where Affiliates
register and update their licensing information as well as download SNOMED CT and
other related products. The NRC is responsible for translating the interface terminology,
etc., but IHTSDO helps the NRC get started. Once registered in MLDS, an Affiliate
can access the national distribution from the NRC as well as other NRC products, so
long as the Member country is using MLDS. For more information about using MLDS in
your country contact your Customer Relations Executive.
Ref | Notes |
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1 |
IHTSDO does not charge for use of SNOMED CT in IHTSDO Member countries. However, an IHTSDO Member country may charge Affiliates a small fee for cost recovery. |