ABSTRACT
All members of the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) department need to be aware of copyright laws and guidelines. This chapter describes new ILL supervisors with the basic fundamentals of copyright, and specific guidelines for ILL. Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Copyright protects “inventors” of literary and artistic works, much like a patent protects inventors of mechanical and chemical devices and processes. However, “inventors” such as university professors and researchers often transfer to the publishers the rights to their work once an article or manuscript has been accepted for publication. One method for paying copyright royalties is to use the services of the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). The CCC is a Reproduction Rights Organization that acts as a broker between copyright holders and users of copyrighted materials.
