Making a copy of any publication without permission from the author or a publisher or the holder of the rights to the publication is an offence except when:

  • The owner has specified that the publication may be copied

  • The copying is done for “Fair use” – that is for private study and research
We take care to provide documents that are procured under the Fair-use clause, from libraries and sources with whom we made arrangements OR those that are “copyright fee paid”, for the Industry (Pharmaceutical Companies etc).

Copyright Compliance when ordering / providing documents

Here are a few guidelines to help you understand issues related to copyright compliance. It does not substitute legal advice though.

Ordering documents

1. Fair use – You can request for a copy of an article for private research and study, or to prepare for a teaching program. Your ultimate purpose should not be commercial. Occasionally you may need to seek permission from the rights holder.

2. Commercial use – You need to pay a copyright fee to the copyright holder if your reason for making a copy is commercial or could be linked to a commercial purpose in the near future.

Providing documents

1. Fair use - Libraries may provide copies to their students, academic and research staff, or to other such clients from other non-profit institutions, from their collection. It is important to collect a signed declaration from the requestor that he/she is taking the copy for non-commercial use

2. Commercial use – Libraries may provide copies to external users only by paying a copyright fee to the rights holder, if these users are from commercial organizations that may or may not be Institutional members.

An excellent guide to understanding what can be construed as Fair use is available at the British Library website

Also recommended is this thought provoking article for librarians

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Page updated - 26- December -2007
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