Copying by Libraries
Copyright for CQUniversity Library
Libraries can copy certain types and amounts of copyright material for their clients (students and researchers), for their own collections and for other libraries.
Guide to Library Provisions in the Copyright Act
Copying for clients' research or study (section 49)
Published material
A library may reproduce published written, artistic and musical works in the library's collection for people who have requested the material for their research or study. The requests must be in writing and must be accompanied by a signed declaration that the client requires the copy for research or study, will not use it for any other purpose, and
has not previously been supplied with a copy of the same material by the library. The library may supply the material by email.
The library must keep written requests and declarations for four years. There are limits on what can be reproduced, depending on whether the material is in hardcopy or electronic form and whether or not it is commercially available. The library must mark copies with the date they were reproduced and the name of the library.
There is no equivalent provision for audiovisual material such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and audio CDs.
Old unpublished material
A library may copy an unpublished written, artistic or musical work whose author has been dead for more than 50 years for a client's research or study. There are equivalent provisions for unpublished films and sound recordings
made more than 50 years ago. The application of these provisions to films is complex, however.
Manuscripts and other original versions
A library may copy a manuscript or other original version - such as a painting, first copy of a film or first copy of a sound recording - to supply to a person for research on the library's premises or on the premises of another library.
Copying old unpublished material for publication
A library may copy an unpublished written, artistic or musical work whose author has been dead for more than 50 years for a person who wishes to publish it. There is an equivalent provision for unpublished films and sound
recordings made more than 50 years ago. There is a procedure in the Copyright Act to enable an unpublished written, artistic or musical work to be published, but no equivalent procedure for films and sound recordings.
Copying for other libraries (section 50)
A library may reproduce a published written, artistic and musical work in the library's collection for another library which has requested it for inclusion in its collection, or for another to supply to its client for research or study. The material may be supplied by email.
There are limits on what can be reproduced, depending on whether the material is in hardcopy or electronic form and whether or not it is commercially available.
There is no equivalent provision for audiovisual material such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and audio CDs.
Copying for preservation, replacement etc
A library may copy a manuscript or other original version - such as a painting, first copy of a film or first copy of a sound recording - for preservation.
If the library is a "key cultural institution", it can make more preservations copies, however University libraries have not yet been declared "key cultural institutions" under the Regulations.
A library can make a replacement copy of an item in the collection which has been lost, stolen or damaged if a replacement copy is not available for purchase.
A library can also make a reproduction of a work in the collection for "administrative purposes", which are "purposes directly related to the care or control of the collection".
