OCLC Resource Sharing Conference 2018

Join this panel of librarians to learn more about how they manage copyright in an ILL setting.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) correlates closely with copyright. But only a few countries worldwide have got a copyright law and less of them including a special part for ILL. Germany is one of them, but this positive effect doesn’t make it easier for foreign libraries. Librarians and lawyers agree that the German copyright law is one of the most complicated laws. The new copyright (UrhWissG) in Germany will become operative in March 2018 and promise to be the right answer for the specification of modern digital work and study. But what will be the differences to the current copyright? What are the most important facts for ILL? How will you get the articles and books you need from German libraries? And why is everything so complicated? The workshop will start with a short introduction to the German copyright and our way of license fees. Afterwards, I would like to discuss various ways to improve ILL between foreign libraries to make it even faster, more digital and more service-orientated.

Medical Sciences Library (MSL) at Texas A&M University offers ILL services to its affiliates free of charge. Like many other libraries, ILL staff first try to borrow from free libraries to keep the borrowing fees as low as possible. However, copyright fees are often higher than the charges of borrowing an article. To offset the copyright charges and maintain the free service, a new plan was devised by the librarian overseeing ILL. After consulting with the director, an acceptable range of copyright fees was chosen for each patron group (undergraduate, graduate, staff, faculty). This breakdown was forwarded to staff and they were asked to follow a series of steps when copyright needs to be paid for a request. This poster will explain the steps in detail and provide the outcome.

UMB Health Sciences Library used to absorb copyright fees incurred by following the CONTU Rule of Five. Over the years the rising demand for current articles for interdisciplinary education and research, compounded with a flat budget for journal subscriptions, has increased copyright payments exponentially. Statistical analysis indicated future trends with the same trajectory. To sustain ILL service, the Library has implemented a charge-back model where schools pay for articles requiring copyright fees. In developing the model, numerous challenges were met and resolved. This poster will describe the development of the project and lessons learned.