Interlibrary Loan: Copyright Guidelines and Best Practices

Copyright and interlibrary loan Sharing materials between academic libraries, whether lending or borrowing, is critical to meeting the content needs of patrons. Many interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions involve sending or transmitting materials such as journal articles and photocopies that are not returned. While U.S. copyright law addresses non-returnables, there are some areas that still present challenges for librarians. Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 addresses reproduction of copyrighted materials by libraries and archives for several purposes, including ILL. Qualifying libraries may send portions of copyrighted works to other qualifying libraries, as long as the “aggregate quantity” doesn’t replace a purchase of or subscription to the work. But Section 108 does not define “aggregate quantity,” leaving librarians to interpret the spirit of the law. In 1978, the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) published guidelines to help further define Section 108 and specify what can and cannot be copied for ILL. These guidelines were never enacted into law, but were accepted by the library, publishing and author communities at the time as reasonable accommodations for everyday use. In the late 1990s, the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) attempted to develop specific guidelines for digital delivery of ILL materials, but the effort was not successful. While everyday practice often assumes digital and non-digital uses should be treated equally, neither the law nor publishers have endorsed this belief.