RIGHT OF FAIR USE AND REASONABLE COMPENSATION

It is the policy of the Special Libraries Association to reaffirm the right of fair use reproduction and reasonable compensation for per-page royalties in relation to copyrighted materials.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Special Libraries Association reaffirm its stand on the reproduction of copyrighted material.

The SLA Board of Directors reaffirms the Association's position:

1) That the fair use by reproduction of a copyrighted work is not an infringement of copyright, subject to the factors as stated in S. 22 S107 (Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair Use), and the preparation of single copies in response to isolated, spontaneous requests by different library users; and

2) That such fair rights be available to users of special libraries, including the employees of parent companies that are characterized as "for profit" organizations.

The SLA Board of Directors affirms that it is appropriate to provide for the payment of a reasonableper-page royalty on copies that are prepared in excess of the fair use provisions (above) through a rational legislative solution, provided that:

1) Such legislative proposal assures that libraries are not required to separately identify and account for each multiple photocopy which they make, or to determine the allocation of the royalties, or to distribute the royalties for which they may become liable among the individual copyright proprietors (e.g., an ASCAP-type operation); and

2) That the reasonable level of the per-page royalty charge to be paid is subject to review and supervision of a royalty tribunal established by legislative action, such as the tribunals now defined in the revision Bill (S.22) for CATV (S. 111), for phono records (S. 115), for juke boxes (S. 116), and the like.

The Executive Director is responsible for the administration and adherence of this policy.

Approved: June 6, 1976
Format approved: October 1989