On Fri, 30 Mar 2001 13:02:15 +0100 Felicity McAvoy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thanks to all who replied to my query and apologies for
> duplication on two lists.
>
> Here are the results from the 15 libraries who replied:
> - 3 supply copies of journal articles between branches
> free of charge
> - 7 charge their usual photcopying rate per page
> - 5 charge a flat rate (£1 or 50p) per request regardless
> of the number of pages.
The 3 who supply free of charge are almost certainly breaking the law, and
the 5 who charge a flat fee quite possibly doing so.
If a library makes a photocopy for an individual, even if it's indirectly via
another library's request, then sections 38 and 39 of the Copyright Act (CDPA
1988) apply, and they say (38(2)(c) and 39 (2)(c)) that "persons to whom
copies are supplied are required to pay for them a sum not less than the cost
(including a contribution to the general expenses of the library)
attributable to their production."
As phrased, the law only seems to envisage direct interaction between the
user and the supplying library, and doesn't cater for the ILL situation
where there's an intermediary: so it doesn't say explicitly that the library
*making* the copy has to charge, only that the end-user has to pay.
If the copies are not being ordered by and supplied to individuals, but are
simply between branches of a library, that's different, of course.
Michael Heaney
Head of Service Assessment and Planning
University Library Services
University of Oxford
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