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The Librarian’s Copyright Companion
5.1. Section 108(a)
The Library Exemption
A library or employee acting within the scope of employment:
- One copy
- No direct or indirect commercial advantage
- Open or available collection
- Personal access or interlibrary loan
- Copyright notice
- from the copy reproduced, or
- legend
Qualifying for the Exemption (Section 108(a))
Nowhere in the Copyright Act are the key terms library or archives defined. Some institutions are unquestionably libraries or archives under the everyday meaning of those terms. But for other entities, such as archives that exist only online, the application of section 108 is unclear.
Section 108(a) does make it clear that not every instance of copying by libraries qualifies for the 108 exemption. To qualify for the library exemption:
- the library or archives’ collection must be open to the public or to researchers;
- copying or distribution must be made without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage; and
- the copy must include a notice of copyright.
Each of these requirements merits discussion.
Open or Available Collection
Here’s the language from 108(a):
… the collections of the library or archives are (i) open to the public, or (ii) available not only to researchers affiliated with the library or archives
