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Ritter Library - Interlibrary Loan: Copyright

Copyright

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Codes) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyright material. 

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction.  One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research".  If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that use may be liable for copyright infringement. 

This institution reserves the right to refuse a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright laws.

This notice is posted in compliance with Title 37 C.F.R., Chapter II, Part 201.14.

CONTU guidelines

National Commission on New Technology Uses of Copyrighted Works - the CONTU Guidelines on Photocopying under Interlibrary Loan Arrangements govern photocopying under Interlibrary Loan agreements in accordance with Copyright Laws.

  • CONTU Guidelines for copying from periodicals apply only to materials less than five years old (referred to as part of the "rule of five").
  • Up to five articles may be copied from a single periodical in one calendar year under the ILL provision (referred to as part of the "rule of five").
  • A library with a subscription for a periodical which is not immediately available may consider a copy obtained from another library as if made from its own collection.
  • All ILL requests must be accompanied by a copyright compliance statement from the requesting library. The requesting library must maintain records of all requests and of their fulfillment. These records must be kept for three calendar years after the request has been made.
  • No more than six copies of articles/chapters/small portions may be made from a non-periodical (including a book) during the entire term of copyright of the work.