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copyright law and interlibrary loan - what's up?

Here we briefly explain what you should bear in mind when sending copies for interlibrary loan. The basis for this is in particular the version of § 60e UrhG.

An evaluation

The amendment of 2017 has concretized and simplified the rules. The restrictions on fax quality and scanned content have been eliminated.

But: This does not apply to deliveries based on contracts before 1.3.2018 and also not to those offering services such as Subito (have their own contracts with the rights holders).


...and an outlook

Over time, the old contracts will expire and their restrictions will cease to apply.

It is up to the actors from science and society to decide whether knowledge produced in the long term with public funds can be transferred to the exclusive access of commercially oriented exploiters, who will sell such knowledge to the public at a high price under the protection of copyright which is at least misused as they feel. The new rules already make it easier than before.

However, at the instigation of the rights owner lobby, the new rights in §60a to §60h in §142 have been limited to March 1, 2023. The Federal Government must report in addition to the Bundestag up to 1. March 2021. It is to be hoped that the legislator will repeal § 142 (2) as a result of the report.

The publications in Open Access journals funded by the EU, the DFG and our Helmholtz Association will make the problem of paid access less relevant in the future. Negotiations with the major publishers to transform their journals into Open Access journals (DEAL project) will also make it smaller.