Guidelines for Compliance with the Copyright Laws

Guidelines for Compliance with the Copyright Laws in the Use of Print,
Non-Print and Electronic Materials

Preamble

The ULS is fully committed to continuing its support for teaching, research and private study in the University. The academic library is a resource for the provision of information and scholarly literature in a variety of formats for the benefit of the University community.

While the free flow of information is and should be a basic tenet of an academic library service, the ULS is nevertheless bound by some strict provisions in the 1997 and 2000 Ordinances on copyright and intellectual property.
The guidelines below provide Faculty and students with a general indication of the importance of these Ordinances in relation to key areas of Library use.

Do's and Don'ts

What can and can't you do in the ULS?

Photocopying / Printing

Don't interpret the provision of photocopying machines and printers in the ULS as the University in any way 'authorizing' infringement of copyright by you and your colleagues.
Use copyrighted material only for your private study and research, and for criticism and review.
Don't copy for others.
Don't make multiple copies of the same publication.
Don't copy an entire book - or indeed any entire work such as a musical score or a graph even if you do the copying in stages over a period of time.

The Reserve Collection

Photocopied Articles

There has been a practice to allow for one copy of an article from a single journal issue to be placed on Reserve by Faculty for loan by students. This service is still available and is under continuous review.

Electronic Reserve

Electronic Reserve allows students to find, view and print course materials that have been placed online by instructors via the Web-based Library Catalogue. Electronic Reserve materials include class Websites and scanned images of non-copyrighted course-related documents such as syllabuses, lecture notes, problem sets and solutions, etc.

You can link electronic journal articles from the following databases, and only from the following databases,

EBSCOhost
IEEE Xplore
IDEAL
JSTOR electronic journal collection
OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online
Ovid Web Gateway
ProQuest

You can add URLs for full-text journal articles available from these databases to Electronic Reserve.

Don't place book chapters on the system. Copyrighted materials cannot be posted unless the instructors have received the copyright holder's specific written permission.

Electronic Databases

You must access via the CUHK campus network or the Library's proxy server service.
You must be a CUHK member of staff or a student to access most of the databases and e-journals, because of vendor license restrictions.
Don't undertake systematic downloading or reproduction.

(Note: Each database vendor ensures that the ULS sign a license agreement setting out what can and cannot be done with the copyrighted material therein. Printing, downloading, hyper-linking may or may not be allowable. Since no two vendor licenses are the same, Library users must follow the rules laid down within the particular database they are accessing. Legal action will be taken by the copyright owner for any infringement. The database will be immediately withdrawn by the owner, denying all other CUHK users access and compromising the University's reputation. This rule applies to all databases).
Inter-Library Loans and Document Delivery

You can only ask for the delivery of one copy of one article from a single issue of a journal, or the photocopy of a reasonable portion from a book.
If you need more journal articles than the law allows, you need to indicate on the request form your approval of a special royalty-paid service; otherwise, your request will be returned to you.

(Note: the items must be delivered from overseas, and this service requires a royalty fee for each article in addition to the basic cost. The royalty varies from journal to journal. Some may be below US$10; some may be as high as US$50).
Non-print (audiovisual) Materials The ULS purchases legal copies of audiovisual items for use within its premises by students and for loan to the staff of the University for viewing on campus.

Don't copy such material, or broadcast it or show it on any kind of fee-paying basis.
Don't use it outside the campus.

Fair Dealing

Though the 1997 Ordinance allows for copying in educational institutions for "things done for the purposes of instruction or examination", it should be understood at the outset that this is not a blanket license to copy. The test on whether copyright is infringed centres on the concept of "fair dealing": the amount, quality and use of the work being copied. "Fair dealing" seems to be much more restrictive in practice here than its American counterpart, "fair use". A legal opinion on this matter states :

"The expression fair dealing is not defined in the Ordinance. Section 38(3) sets out factors to be considered in determining whether any dealing with a work of any description is fair dealing. These factors include the purpose and nature of the dealing; the nature of the work; and the amount and substantiality of the portion dealt with in relation to the work as a whole. It is not necessary to decide whether use of the work constitutes fair dealing until it has been determined that use has been made of a substantial part of the work. What amounts to a substantial part must be assessed on quality rather than quantity. For example, if the most vital part of the work is copied, even though it may not be a very large part, it will nevertheless be considered to be a substantial part. Once substantiality is established, it is necessary to examine whether the use made of the work is in fact fair dealing."
Reviewing and Monitoring by the ULS

The ULS management and staff undertake review and monitoring of the use of copyrighted material on Library premises in order to minimize the possibility of any infringement. Bilingual notices are conspicuously placed near all ULS photocopying machines reminding users of the circumstances under which legitimate copies can be made and reserving the right to take action against any infringement. Copies of the Ordinances are also available there for consultation. In this way, Library patrons using these machines are reminded that anyone making copies of copyrighted material assumes responsibility for questions of infringement which may arise from their use.

The onus is upon each member of the University community as well as visitors to CUHK libraries to observe the Ordinances on copyright while availing themselves of ULS services and materials.

Colin Storey

University Librarian
(Revised: 14.05.03)

Guidelines for Compliance with the Copyright Laws in the Use of Print, Non-Print and Electronic Materials

Guidelines for Compliance with the Copyright Laws in the Use of Print,
Non-Print and Electronic Materials