Interlibrary Loan - Fair Use vs. Publisher's or Author's "All Rights Reserved" Notification

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  • I do interlibrary loans.  Sometimes I receive requests from other libraries for scans of chapters of books in our collection which have an "All Rights Reserved" notification on the copyright page.  Here's an example:

    "All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author."

    I usually offer to send a book to the requesting library if this type of prohibition is listed on the copyright page, citing the the notification as reason not to scan a chapter without permission from the author.  Some libraries take me up on the loan offer, some decline.  One librarian replied that Fair Use "trumps" these notifications.

    I did find this blurb on Wikipedia's Fair Use article which seems to support this point of view:

    "Fair use rights take precedence over the author's interest. Thus the copyright holder cannot use a non-binding disclaimer, or notification, to revoke the right of fair use on works. However, binding agreements such as contracts or licence agreements may take precedence over fair use rights.[26]"

    I would appreciate any comments you can share on how your libraries handle scan requests for materials that have this type of "All Rights Reserved" notifications.

     

     

  • "All rights reserved" does not mean exceptions or limitations to copyright go out the window.  So yes, you can use 108 (library reproductions) and/or fair use to supply articles via interlibrary loan.

    Cheers! Carrie

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