Interlibrary Loan

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Copyright Compliance Policy

Library User Requests for Copies of Copyright-Protected Works

SMU Central University Libraries  may make reproductions of articles or short excerpts of other works for library users (students, faculty, etc.), without obtaining permission from the copyright owner, providing the following criteria for fair use are met::

• The library makes only one reproduction of an article from a periodical or a small part of any other work.
• The reproduction becomes the property of the library user.
• The library has no reason to believe that the reproduction will be used for purposes other than private study, scholarship and research.
• The library displays a copyright notice on the SMU Interlibrary Loan online request forms (the place where library users make their interlibrary loan requests to the library) as recommended by Section 108 of the Copyright Act.

Fair Use Guidelines

For guidelines in determining what constitutes "Fair Use" of a copyright-protected work, we refer to the Fair Use Checklist for Guidelines on Determining Fair Use from the Copyright Clearance Center's "Campus Guide to Copyright Compliance" website.

Reproduction of entire works

One reproduction of an entire book or periodical may be made at a library user's request or by another library on behalf of a library user upon certain conditions being met. These conditions include the library determining after reasonable investigation that an authorized reproduction cannot be obtained at a reasonable price. Once made, the reproduction must become the property of the library user. The library must have no reason to believe that the reproduction will be used by the user for purposes other than private study, scholarship and research, and the library must display a copyright  notice at the place library users make their reproduction requests to the library.

Multiple Copies from a Single Periodical Title

The SMU Central University Libraries follow the CONTU guidelines on a case by case basis for determining what is fair use of library text-based materials for interlibrary loan.  The guidelines state that the SMU Central University Libraries may participate in interlibrary loans without obtaining permission provided that the "aggregate quantities" of articles or items received by the patron do not substitute for a periodical subscription or purchase of a work. The SMU Central University Libraries uses the CONTU guidelines for defining "aggregate quantities." The CONTU guidelines state that requesting and receiving more than five articles from a single periodical within a calendar year, or a total of six or more copies of articles published within five years prior to the date of request would be too many under CONTU.  If we exceed the CONTU copyright guidelines for a particular title, we pay a fee for copyright permission for that photocopy through the Copyright Clearance Center or purchase a copy of the article through a Document Delivery Service which will pay the copyright fee for us.

Interlibrary Loan of Full Text Articles from Online Databases

If the articles or items being copied have been obtained through a digital license, we check the license and or subscription to see under what terms and conditions, if any, interlibrary loan is permitted.