Copyright Corner

Copyright touches many library services because we collect, share and loan original works fixed in a wide variety of tangible media. The Copyright Resources Center conducted a series of informational interviews with faculty and staff from various areas of The Ohio State University Libraries to discuss the ways in which they engage with copyright issues. This blog series documents those conversations, and highlights how copyright law helps to shape services provided by the Libraries. See all available posts in the series here.

Mary Ann Ries, Library Associate

The OSU Libraries have been collecting government publications for over a century: since it became a Federal Depository Library in 1902. Government publications may be generally defined as any material (print or digital) published by any government agency, including federal, state, county, and city. The collection at OSUL includes U.S. government materials from all of the above categories, and also includes international materials. I met with Mary Ann Ries, Library Associate for Research and Education, to discuss our government publications collection and how copyright affects this particular collection.

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Copyright touches many library services because we collect, share and loan original works fixed in a wide variety of tangible media. The Copyright Resources Center conducted a series of informational interviews with faculty and staff from various areas of The Ohio State University Libraries to discuss the ways in which they engage with copyright issues. This blog series documents those conversations, and highlights how copyright law helps to shape services provided by the Libraries. See all available posts in the series here.

Emily Shaw,
Head of Preservation & Reformatting

Preservation and reformatting at The OSU Libraries encompass a wide variety of activities, some of which are not as affected by copyright while others engage with copyright issues on a regular basis. Reformatting primarily means digitization, and preservation efforts include systematically preserving print collections by repairing damaged collections, binding journals and paperbacks, monitoring collection environments, and more. Emily Shaw is Head of the Preservation and Reformatting Department at The OSU Libraries, and she met with me to discuss the ways in which copyright affects her department.

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Copyright touches many library services because we collect, share and loan original works fixed in a wide variety of tangible media. The Copyright Resources Center conducted a series of informational interviews with faculty and staff from various areas of The Ohio State University Libraries to discuss the ways in which they engage with copyright issues. This blog series documents those conversations, and highlights how copyright law helps to shape services provided by the Libraries. See all available posts in the series here.

Brian Miller, Head of Interlibrary Services

Interlibrary services at The OSU Libraries comprise three categories: lending, borrowing, and document delivery. Lending services consist of loaning physical copies and scans of shorter materials to other institutions, while borrowing activities involve obtaining copies from other institutions to fulfill requests from OSU-affiliated patrons.  Document delivery is a service where we provide scans from our own locally held print collections to members of the OSU community. Brian Miller, Head of Interlibrary Services, met with me to discuss how copyright weaves through all three services. Interlibrary services are influenced by community practices established in the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyright Works (CONTU) final report from 1978, known as the CONTU guidelines, and the statutory provisions of U.S. Copyright Law.

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