ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 123 Copyright and Academic Library Photocopying Meredith A. Butler Chair, ACRL A d H oc Committee on Copyright January 1, 1982, m arked the fourth anniversary of th e e n a c tm e n t of th e N ew C o p y rig h t Law (N C L). D u rin g th e p a st four y ears, lib ra ria n s have sought guidance on a n u m ber of issues for which th e re are no easy answers. Q uestions about fair use and library photocopying practices con­ tinue to be asked because the law leaves m uch room for interpretation. ALA and ACRL have b een quick to respond to the need for information and have defended the ideals of access to inform ation and the practices of library photocopying. R obert W edgew orth sum ­ m arized ALA’s position on the N CL and library photocopying practices in his testim o n y before the Copyright Office on January 28, 1981, in New York City in which he stated: 1. T here is no evidence th at the law, in most cases, is failing adequately to balance the in te r­ ests of creators and users of copyrighted m ate­ rials. 2. Most photocopying done by or in libraries falls w ithin the protections of fair use and of Sec­ tion 108 of the law. 3. T h ere is no ev id en ce of a causal link b e ­ tw een any reductions in library periodical su b ­ scriptions and library photocopying practices. 4. Libraries may utilize rights u n d e r Sections 107 and 108 to co ntribute to th e w idest possible dissem ination of inform ation to th e public and to fulfill th e ir traditional role in society as lenders and facilitators of such information. Through its Ad Hoc C om m ittee on C opyright a n d o th e r i n t e r e s t e d g ro u p s a n d in d iv id u a ls , ACRL has m aintained an active copyright liaison and information exchange. This activity has b een particularly im portant during the past four years because the effectiveness of th e p re se n t law and its ability to balance th e rights of the"creators and the needs of users has b een u n d e r review by the U. S. C opyright Office. Awarded a contract by th e C opyright Office to conduct a survey on the above topic, King Re­ search, In c., has now com pleted its nationw ide study of 500 libraries, 150 publishers, and 1,250 library users and the results will form th e basis for the R egister’s rep o rt to Congress in 1983. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has continued to campaign for restrictions on li­ brary photocopying and narrow definitions of “fair use” rights for libraries and individuals. In spring of 1981, the AAP issued a working docum ent en titled “ D raft College and University Policy S ta te m e n t C o n cern in g P hotocopying by Faculty and S taff’ to be d istrib u ted to university legal counsels th ro u g h o u t th e U n ited States. A copy of the policy and the academ ic library com­ m unity’s response was pub lished in C &RL News, S ep tem b er 1981, pp. 286-288. ALA has also p re p a re d its own M odel Policy Concerning College and U niversity Photocopying for Classroom, Research and Library Reserve Use as guidance to the academ ic com m unity (see pp. 127-31). The m odel policy was p rep ared by ALA legal counsel Mary H utchings, w ith advice and assis­ tance from copyright lawyers and academ ic librar­ ians, and outlines fair use rights in the academ ic context, i.e. for classroom teaching, research ac­ tivities, and library services. It is hoped th at li­ b rarian s and u n iv e rsity a d m in istra to rs will use this statem en t as a m odel for th e ir own copyright photocopying policy. W hile the m odel policy was being developed and the King Research Survey was proceeding, ACRL decided to do a small survey of its own to identify c u rre n t policies and photocopying prac­ tices in selected academ ic libraries. “The ACRL 100 L ibraiy Survey on Photocopying” consisted of an actual sam ple of 140 selected ju n ior college, college, and university libraries who w ere sent a q u e stio n n a ire p re p a r e d by th e ACRL Ad H oc C om m ittee on C opyright and the editor of C&RL News. Survey p articip an ts w ere asked 14 questions about the im pact of the N C L on services, c u rren t practices, and problem areas. R espondents w ere re q u e s te d to include exam ples of th e ir lib rary ’s copyright policy if they had a w ritten one, and many libraries com plied with that request. The following is a sum m ary of findings of the ACRL 100 Libraries Survey on Photocopying. T he 140 lib ra rie s in th e ACRL su rv ey w ere chosen for th e ir representativeness of the larger population of academ ic libraries. A 74% response rate on the questionnaire (104 of the 140 libraries selected) assures th at th e answers are illustrative of th e opinions and attitu d es of academ ic libraries and reflect th e ir continued in te re st in the topic, in sp ite of, as one lib rary co m p lain ed , “b e in g surveyed to d e a th .” 1. Seventy-five (72%) of th e respondents stated that th e N C L had caused th em to make policy changes to com ply w ith th e le tte r and spirit of th e law. T he m ost affected areas w ere reserv e services (m entioned by 66% of the respondents), in te rlib ra ry loan services (m en tio n ed by 61%), 124 and d eterm in in g “fair u se” for service in general (m entioned by 47%). T he m ost freq u en tly m en tio n ed change was th e practice of w riting to publishers for perm ission to make m ultiple photocopies. M any libraries p ro ­ v id e th is se rv ic e for fa c u lty a n d u s e rs , w h ile others advise faculty on how to obtain perm ission and p ro v id e a m odel le tte r . O th e r changes in ­ volved additional reco rd keeping in IL L and au ­ diovisual services. W h en asked w h e th e r th e ir librarv was in full co m p lian ce w ith th e G u id e lin e s for C lassroom Copying, 98% of th e resp o n d en ts who answ ered this question (N =94) b eliev ed th e ir library to be in full com pliance. N inety-eight of 100 libraries who answ ered also b e lie v ed th e ir lib rary to b e in full com pliance w ith C O N TU G uidelines for ILL. T he costs in staff tim e, supplies, in creased ac­ quisitions, and b o rro w e r’s fees to respond to the N C L has b e e n a m a tte r of concern to m any li­ braries. W h en asked to state if th e re w ere additional costs in c u rre d by th e ir library to establish policies and p ro ced u res to b rin g th em in com pliance w ith th e N C L , re sp o n d e n ts id en tified several ad d ed costs: s tu d e n t h o u rs (15% o f th e r e s p o n d e n ts m entioned this), clerical staff hours (43%), profes­ sional staff h ours (31%), postage (10%), telep h o n e (6%), and m iscellaneous costs such as C C C fees or supplies (6%). V ery few re s p o n d in g lib ra rie s k e p t a c c u ra te records of costs in c u rre d and th e m ost fre q u e n t re s p o n s e w as “ s o m e .” C le ric a l sta ff tim e was identified as a significant cost, b u t th e re was no ag reem en t on w h e th e r costs in c u rre d w ere ongo­ ing or one-tim e only. It is un fortunate th a t m ore specific data on costs w ere not identified; how ­ ever, th e m ore extensive King R esearch Survey may provide som e reliab le data on this im portant topic. Significantly, 43 lib raries (43% of those who an ­ sw ered this question) had found it necessary to refuse IL L photocopy re q u e sts becau se th e r e ­ quests exceeded reco m m en d ed fair use lim its of the CO N TU G uidelines. F ifteen libraries had r e ­ fused 1-5 req u ests from users; th irte e n libraries had refused 6 -1 0 re q u e sts from users; four lib ra r­ ies had refused 11-20 req u ests from users; eleven libraries had refused m ore than 21 req u ests in a given year; and th irty -eig h t of th ese libraries sug­ gested o th e r options to th e u ser w hose re q u e st was refused. Most often the u ser was encouraged to travel to a library who ow ned th e d e sire d m a­ terial and borrow it th e re . U sers w ere freq u en tly assisted in locating a lte rn a tiv e m aterials w hich w ould satisfy th e ir n eed s. Less fre q u e n tly th ey w ere advised of copying fees or asked to contact a com m ercial copying service. In te rlib ra ry Loan req u ests w ere also used as a journal subscription selection tool by 58 (56%) of the responding libraries. T hirty-seven of th ese libraries have p u rc h a s e d ad d itio n a l jo u rn a l s u b ­ scriptions to be in com pliance w ith th e C O N TU G uidelines. T w e n ty -o n e lib ra rie s a d d e d 1 -5 n ew jo u rn a l s u b s c rip tio n s ; n in e lib r a r ie s a d d e d 6 - 1 0 n e w journal subscriptions; five libraries ad d ed 11-20 n e w jo u r n a l s u b s c r ip tio n s ; a n d tw o l ib r a r ie s ad d ed m ore th an 20 n ew jo u rn al subscriptions. C ertain ly th e above statistics in d icate th e com ­ m itm en t of academ ic libraries to com ply w ith th e spirit and le tte r of th e law, at som e considerable expense to b oth them selves and th e users th ey serve. O f th e responding libraries, 35 (35%) h a d ex­ ceeded, during th e past four years, th e m inim um n u m b e r of in te r lib r a r y lo an p h o to c o p y in g r e ­ quests suggested in th e C O N TU G uidelines: th ir­ teen libraries h ad exceeded it for b etw een 1 and 5 jo u rn al titles; sixteen libraries had ex ceed ed it for b etw een 6 and 15 journal titles; and five li­ braries had exceeded it for m ore than 15 journal titles. R espondents felt th a t individual ju d g m en ts for p h o to c o p y in g r e q u e s t s b e y o n d t h e C O N T U G uidelines m inim um w ere necessary and ap p ro ­ p riate u n d e r provisions of fair use. Sixty-six libraries indicated th a t it was neces­ sary for th e m to a lte r o r c re a te n ew form s in o rd e r to b e in com pliance w ith th e N C L . T he th re e areas m ost affected w ere in terlib rary loan, reserv e services, and photocopying services. R estrictive copyright statem en ts th a t som e p u b ­ lish ers have a d d e d to th e ir m a te ria ls a n d th a t im ply no fair use photocopying rights exist for a particular p u b lish ed item have b e e n a subject of concern to m any academ ic libraries. F o rty -two li­ braries (41%) w ere aw are of restrictiv e copyright sta te m e n ts, an d four of th e s e lib ra rie s h a d r e ­ fused to make a photocopy for an in terlib rary loan r e q u e s t b e c a u s e o f su c h a r e s tr i c t iv e n o tic e . S ix ty - e ig h t li b r a r i e s w e re a w a re o f l ib e r a l c o p y r ig h t s t a t e m e n t s p r o v id e d b y so m e e d u c a tio n a l/sc h o la rly p u b lis h e rs w ho h av e n o t lim ited p h o to cop y in g of th e ir item s for e d u c a ­ tional purposes. F orty libraries stated th a t they had m ade use of this ex ten d ed liberal perm ission to photocopy. A cadem ic lib ra rie s hav e fo u n d th e ir cam pus adm inistrations to be supportive of th e ir efforts to com ply w ith th e NCL. M ore than 80% of th e r e ­ sponding libraries receiv ed assistance and support and 70 libraries re p o rte d th at th e ir institution es­ tablished a local copyright policy which included library copyright concerns. A lthough library a d ­ m inistrators w ere m ost freq u en tly m en tio n ed as those m ost involved in copyright policy form ula­ tio n , re s p o n d e n ts m ad e it c le a r th a t c o p y rig h t policy decisions w ere group processes w hich e n ­ com passed every service area in th e library, stu ­ d e n t a n d facu lty u se rs , co lleg e an d u n iv e rs ity adm inistrators, and th e in stitu tio n s’ legal counsel. How do th ese libraries feel about th e inforination 125 a n d a s s is ta n c e th e y h a v e r e c e iv e d on copyright issues from th eir professional organiza­ tions? Sixty-four libraries w anted ACRL to p ro ­ vide additional, basic information with a focus on academ ic libraries. In spite of the large n u m b er of libraries who have a p rin ted copyright policy in effect (25 li­ braries supplied a copy of th eir policy and p e r­ mission to reproduce it), 49 libraries want ACRL to take an active role in clarifying or responding to public statem ents concerning copyright and li­ braries. A fair n u m b er of com m ents highlighted a continuing uncertainty about library reserve op­ erations and photocopying and asked for m ore guidance on these issues. Thirty-eight libraries felt that ALA and ACRL had done a good jo b of k eep in g lib rarian s in ­ form ed through published m aterials and confer­ ence program s. Some m ade the point that we are an information hungry profession with new librar­ ians coming into the profession all th e tim e and, therefore, our educational efforts m ust be ongo­ ing and continuous. In sum m ary, survey results show that academ ic libraries have m ade a serious and continuing ef­ fort to comply with the spirit and the le tte r of the New C opyright Law. C ontrary to often rep eated claims m ade by the Association of American P u b ­ lishers, many academ ic libraries have increased th eir journal holdings to comply with the law and som e hav e re fu se d re q u e s ts from u sers w hich w ent beyond the limits suggested by the CONTU G uidelines. Although they have some uneasiness about copyright issues which rem ain unresolved, academic librarians have found th e ir academic in­ s titu tio n s an d th e ir p ro fe ssio n a l o rg an izatio n s ready and willing to offer guidance and support. Although no longer th e “burn in g issue” it once was in 1978, copyright is a topic of extrem e im ­ portance to the library com m unity and librarians want to be inform ed about copyright issues on a continuing basis. A review of th e 27 copyright policies subm itted by various colleges and u n iv ersities points out once again the need to rem ind librarians to exer­ cise th eir full rights of “fair use” u n d er th e law. F or the most part, the policies did a good job of inform ing c o n stitu e n c ie s of th e basic r e q u ir e ­ m en ts of th e N ew C o p y rig h t Law and various guidelines, and stayed away from interpretation. However, in nearly every policy, th e most con­ s e rv a tiv e i n te r p r e ta tio n o f p h o to c o p y in g p o s ­ sibilities was offered, often in a cautionary or foreboding tone. Very few policies encouraged li­ brary users to exercise th eir full fair use rights and very few policies gave evidence that librar­ ians w ere exercising th e ir fair use rights to the fullest extent. The ALA m odel policy p rin ted in this issue offers a m ore generous in terp retatio n of rights and responsibilities, one which librarians would do well to adopt. ■ ■ Letter Think Tank To the Editor: As a lib ra ria n c u r r e n tly e n g a g e d in b ib lio ­ graphic in stru c tio n , I found th e article “Think Tank Recom m endations for Bibliographic In stru c­ tio n ” in the D ecem b er issue quite stim ulating. Surely, however, th ere is a m isprint in one of its statem ents. On page 397, u n d er Section V, Sub­ section C, th e text reads: “Effective bibliographic i n s tr u c tio n c o n t r i b u t e s to s t u d e n t s ’ m is u n ­ d e r s t a n d in g o f th e n a t u r e o f l e a r n in g a n d sc h o la rs h ip ...” And all this tim e I th o u g h t we w e re try in g to re m o v e t h e i r m i s u n d e r ­ standing!—Marie E. D evine, Instructional Ser­ vices Librarian, University o f North Carolina at Asheville. E ditor s Note: Thank you f o r pointing out this typographic error. How it got past my proofread­ ing, I ju st don’t misunderstand. ■ ■ M ore Fallacies o f Librarianship ACRL has receiv ed suggestions for a few m ore fallacies to be ad d ed to the list appear­ ing in C &RL News, January 1982, p. 13: 21. The com puter and data bases will solve all information problem s. 22. The com puter and data bases can solve none of our information problem s. 23. G rants are free. 24. S helf brow sing is u n im p o rtan t for the serious scholar. 25. Users bring th e ir reference questions to the Reference Desk. 26. D irectional questions are not reference questions. 27. The system used before was preferable to the one recently adopted. 28. The quality of the bibliographic record is m ore im portant than its production. 29. C e n tr a liz e d p ro c e s s in g is alw ays cheaper than decentralized operations. 30. D ata base services will be ab u sed by users if charges are not affixed. The contributors of th ese suggestions are: William Brace, Rosary College; Alice F. Dal­ bey, Dom inican College of San Rafael; Justine R oberts, U niversity of California, San F ra n ­ cisco; a n d L. Y vonne W ulff, U n iv e rsity of Michigan.