Interlibrary Loan Copyright Compliance Policy

Background

The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Resource Delivery and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Services complies with copyright law as set forth in the United States Code, Section 108 of Title 17.

Section 108(g)(2) of Copyright Law of the United States indicates that:
. . . nothing in this clause prevents a library or archives from participating in interlibrary arrangements that do not have, as their purpose or effect, that the library or archives receiving such copies or phonorecords for distribution does so in such aggregate quantities as to substitute for a subscription to or purchase of such work.

In addition, the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries has previously followed the chapter 4 guidelines of the 1978 National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Final Report to identify when the procurement of copies through interlibrary loan might be a substitute for a subscription.

The CONTU guidelines, however, are not law and reflect a standard of what might constitute as a substitute for a subscription in 1978 rather than in 2019. For this reason, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries has decided to adhere solely to the copyright law. The Resource Delivery and Acquisitions Librarians will annually review instances where aggregate quantities of ILL copy requests for a title may substitute for a subscription and will determine the appropriate outcome in accordance with the Copyright Law.

Possible outcomes of this annual review may include

  • The ILL requests fell within scope of section 107 (Fair Use) or 108 (copying by libraries and archives) of the 1976 Copyright Act and no ILL copyright fee is due;
  • The ILL requests were beyond Fair Use and “in such aggregate quantities as to substitute for a subscription to or purchase of such work” and ILL royalty fees will be paid;
  • A subscription to a serial title is made.

Procedure

  1. Interlibrary Services will maintain records of ILL article requests filled for University of Texas at Arlington users for the current year plus the three past years.
  2. The Resource Delivery and Acquisitions Librarians will annually review the past years article requests for copyright compliance and potential subscription needs.
  3. Review factors for potential subscription or ILL royalty payment consideration may include, but are not limited to:
    1. Number of borrowing requests submitted in the past year for articles published in the last 5 years of a serial title;
    2. Number of local patrons making those requests;
    3. Frequency/pattern of requests within a calendar year and across years;
    4. Subscription list price and Copyright Clearance Center ILL royalty fees;
    5. Patron recommendations/requests for title subscriptions.
  4. The Head of Access and Discovery, Electronic Resources Librarian, and Liaison Librarians will be consulted in an advisory role as needed.
  5. Based on the review of high‐demand titles, the Acquisitions Librarian will make strategic and informed collection building decisions for potential serial subscription in alignment with the collection development policy, and the Interlibrary Services department will initiate payment to the Copyright Clearance Center or appropriate rights holder for articles that are in “aggregate quantities as to substitute for a subscription.”