Fair Use for Research, Study, and Teaching Purposes

The Libraries and Information Division, through the Interlibrary Loan Department, provides copies of materials via digital means.

The department fulfills requests and supplies materials to other academic institutions for items available in the Libraries and Information Division’s collection (hereinafter: Lending). It also obtains materials from other academic institutions that are required by the university community but are not available in the Libraries and Information Division’s collection (hereinafter: Borrowing).

• Copyright in Lending Processes

  The department will provide printed or digital copies of materials from the Libraries and Information Division’s collection as part of interlibrary loan requests, subject to legal restrictions. Written permission from copyright holders may be required. Under certain conditions, as specified by law, the Division may provide a copy of a work, in whole or in part, for research or personal use (among other purposes) in accordance with fair use guidelines. If a request is submitted to copy or use a copy beyond the scope of “fair use,” responsibility for copyright infringement rests with the requester. The library reserves the right to refuse any request if, at its discretion, fulfilling the request would involve a violation of the law.

• Copyright in Borrowing Processes

  Bar-Ilan University students and faculty are entitled to request materials not available in the Libraries and Information Division’s collections through interlibrary loan. When requesting works via interlibrary loan, users are subject to all conditions of fair use and copyright compliance as detailed above. The Libraries and Information Division reserves the right not to forward requests that exceed fair use limitations and will notify the requester accordingly.

The Libraries and Information Division serves as the deposit library for research papers submitted for master’s and doctoral degrees at Bar-Ilan University. In accordance with the regulations of the School of Graduate Studies, graduate students are required to submit copies of their work in both electronic and physical formats.

The Libraries and Information Division aims to carry out full digitization of theses submitted in previous years in physical format only, and these works will be added to the existing digital collection.

The Accessible Education Forum’s Principles Document outlines guidelines for making works (books, articles, or any other instructional material) accessible for teaching purposes through digital means (such as electronic reserves, online syllabi, or providing full-text access on the course website). The main principles are as follows:

• The works must be instructional materials required by the lecturer for a course taught at Bar-Ilan University. The use should be proportionate—limited to what is necessary for the course and no more.
• There is no legal free access to these works through open sources on the internet. If a legal open-access source exists, it must be used. If a digital version of the work is available through the Libraries and Information Division’s resources, students should be directed to the work via links to the resource, rather than downloading files and uploading them to the Moodle system.
• The Libraries and Information Division’s collections must include lawful access to at least one copy of the work in question. Therefore, materials obtained through interlibrary loan may not be used for digital teaching purposes.
• Access to works must be limited to students enrolled in the course and the relevant course staff (academic and administrative), via the Moodle system, and only for the duration of the study and examination period. Distribution or granting access to anyone not enrolled in the course is strictly prohibited.
• The permitted scope of use from a book is approximately one-fifth of its content. This assessment is not only quantitative but also qualitative.
• One article from a journal or one chapter from a book that is a collection of articles may be used in full.
• When a work cannot be divided (such as an image, table, diagram, or poem), it may be used in its entirety.
• In all cases of using a work or part of it, proper credit must be given to the creator.

The above does not constitute an exhaustive list of rules. In any case of doubt, or when there is a need to make materials accessible beyond these guidelines, consult the Accessible Education Forum’s Principles Document or contact the Libraries and Information Division for individual guidance on whether the intended use falls within fair use.