Libraries
Impact of Copibec agreements on libraries
The agreements between Copibec and educational institutions cover copies made by teaching personnel for their students. What is allowed for institutions’ libraries?
Libraries can take advantage of certain exceptions in the Copyright Act that apply specifically to them.
Research and private study
For example, libraries can make copies of the following articles for users who will use the copies for research or private study purposes:
- Article published in a scholarly, scientific or technical periodical
- Article published in a newspaper or periodical (other than a scholarly, scientific or technical periodical) more than one year before the copy is made
However, this exception does not allow fiction, poetry, music or dramatic works to be copied.
Interlibrary lending
Libraries can also give another library a copy of a work on behalf of a user (i.e. interlibrary lending). However, certain conditions must be respected:
- The copy must be given to the person who made the request through another library.
- If the copy is in digital format, the person who receives it can print out only one copy.
- The library receiving the copy must take measures to prevent the person who requested the copy from making copies of it (other than printing out a single copy), communicating it to any other person or using it for more than five business days from the day on which it is first used.
Management and maintenance of collections
Libraries can also copy all or part of a work in the following cases:
- If the original is rare or unpublished and is deteriorating, damaged or lost, or at risk of deterioration or becoming damaged or lost
- For the purposes of on-site consultation if the original cannot be viewed, handled or listened to because of its condition or because of the atmospheric conditions in which it must be kept
- If the original is in a format that is currently obsolete or becoming obsolete or the technology required to use the original is currently unavailable or becoming unavailable
- For the purposes of internal record-keeping and cataloguing
- If necessary for restoration
In general, these exceptions do not apply if the work can be purchased or if a licence can be issued for the intended use.
Digitization
If you would like to obtain a digital version of a work for your library, you first have to check whether a digital version can be purchased. If it is not available, you then have to request permission to digitize the work (unless it is in the public domain).
We can help you obtain the necessary permission. Be sure to contact us!
Subscriptions, private agreements and Copibec agreements
Your institution may have agreements with various publishers or aggregators that allow certain uses of copyright protected works. Your Copibec licence can complement those agreements. For example, many subscriptions for scientific or cultural periodicals do not allow recent articles to be copied (i.e. articles published during the past two years). The Copibec licence does not contain such restrictions.
In addition, it can be time-consuming to check the conditions of use for every periodical included in the subscriptions from various publishers or consortiums. Your Copibec licence, on the other hand, covers all works in our repertoire (catalogue).
Self-serve photocopiers
The agreements with Copibec allow educational institutions’ libraries (as well as public libraries) to take advantage of the provisions of section 30.3 of the Copyright Act, which concerns copies made on photocopiers available to users for self-serve use in the library’s premises.
The section of the Act specifies that libraries are not infringing copyright when copies are made on self-serve photocopiers if:
- A copyright infringement notice is displayed
- The library is covered by an agreement with a copyright licensing agency