Interlibrary Loan: Copyright Law

Please feel free to call (757) 594-8818 or email ill@cnu.edu.

For another explanation of copyright law as it applies to interlibrary loan services, visit the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States or the VIVA Interlibrary Loan Guidelines.

The Paul and Rosemary Trible Library takes copyright very seriously.  There are guidelines we must follow and interlibrary loan has specific rules that we follow to ensure compliance with federal laws.

The CNU ILL department will cancel any requests that would result in a copyright violation. Several aspects of the law concern libraries and interlibrary lending. 

1. ILL article requests are limited to one per person per journal issue.
2. The CNU ILL department can request no more than five articles (for the entire library--not just for an individual) from the same journal title published during the most current five years (2018-2022), in a single calendar year.
3. Regarding requests for sections or chapters of books, ILL users may submit a request for a copy of up to 10% of the work.

The following information explains these facets of copyright in more detail.

Fair Use - [Title 17, U.S. Code - § 107]

Fair Use is a defense that can be used in court against allegations of copyright infringement. Courts consider four factors:

1. Purpose and character of the use: Not-for-profit, educational vs. for-profit, commercial, entertainment
2. Nature of the copyrighted work: Published, factual work vs. unpublished or highly creative work
3. Amount of portion used: Small quantity, appropriate portion vs. large portion (more than 10%) of the work
4. Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the work: Lawful purchase or acquisition of work, no significant effect on market, no licensing mechanism, few copies made vs. could replace a sale, harm to market, distributed widely, easy and affordable permissions system, available, long-term use, many copies made. Kristof, Cindy. "U.S. Copyright and Interlibrary Loan Practice." Interlibary Loan Practices Handbook. ed. Charie L. Weible and Karen L. Janke. Chicago: American Library Association. 56-57. Print.

Reproduction by Libraries and Archives - [Title 17, U.S. Code - § 108]

"For a library user, the library or archive can copy one article from a periodical issue or a portion of another type of copyrighted work, such as a book chapter." (Kristof, 52-53)

CONTU Guidelines

NOTICE: U.S. Copyright law [Title 17, U.S. Code] limits the number of photocopied articles the Library may obtain through ILL. Copyright restrictions apply to journals published within the last five years. This library can request no more than five articles (total per library--not per person) from the same journal title published during the previous five years, in a single calendar year.

CNU strictly abides by copyright regulations. If we return your request for this reason, we suggest you try your local public library and/or we will let you know of any other libraries that own the journal in question.

Search Trible Library's catalog for materials we own.