Library Exemptions
Section 108 of the Copyright Act permits eligible libraries and archives to make and distribute copies of many works for purposes of preservation, private study, and interlibrary loans. Section 108 also allows many uses of works in their last twenty years of copyright protection for preservation, scholarship, or research purposes.
To be eligible for the privileges of Section 108, an institution must comply with the following general requirements:
1. The institution must be open to the public or to outside researchers in a specialized field.
2. The copies made under Section 108 must be made without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage.
3. Each copy made under section 108 must include either the copyright notice that appeared on the original work or a statement that the work may be protected by copyright if no notice appears on the original work.
4. The institution can only make and distribute single copies on isolated and unrelated occasions and cannot, under most circumstances, knowingly engage in the related or concerted reproduction or distribution of multiple copies of the same material.
Additional requirements apply depending on the purpose of the copying. Please click on the tiles below to learn more.
