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Copyright Guide

This guide provides resources for students, researchers, staff, and faculty on copyright law, policies, and guidelines at Loma Linda University.

What is AACL?

The Annual Academic Copyright License is an annual license that allows the reuse of text-based copyrighted content within higher education institutions.

What is covered ?

Educational uses include:

  • Coursepacks—paper and electronic
  • Class handouts
  • Library reserves—traditional and e-reserves
  • Electronic Course Content
  • Administrative Communication

Research uses include:

  • Faculty-to-faculty sharing
  • Student-to-student sharing

License Exclusions

  • Interlibrary loan and external document delivery transactions.
  • Non-educational uses (e.g. promotional and advertising).
  • Reproduction of the entire work unless specifically noted by the rights holder.
  • Creation of a database or a repository of works if it replaces the need for a subscription or is available for multiple people's use outside the context of a class.

Check and Go

Loma Linda University now holds an Annual Academic Copyright License (AACL) from Copyright Clearance Center.

Step 1

Search for permission to photocopy or share content electronically at CCC's RightFind Academic.

  • RightFind search is only available on campus.  You should not be asked to login while on campus.
  • Enter a search for the Publication Title or ISBN/ISSN and/or the Publisher (Do not enter the title of the specific article or chapter.)
  • Search for key words to see results related to your topic
  • Use advanced search to browse titles by author, publisher, etc.
  • Scroll down in the Search Results to look at:
  • If the results of the search indicate:

…no further action is necessary. You are free to use this content in your course materials for the duration of the LLU license agreement with CCC.

Remember that permissions are granted one quarter/semester at a time through CCC. Check each new semester to be sure that nothing has changed before continuing to post , copy or handout.

Some items may have special terms.  Follow the instructions to click on the TERMS link to get more details.

Step 2

 

In the event a publication is not covered under the license,call the Interlibrary Loan Office OR fill out the Copyright Clearance Request Form and we will facilitate requesting permissions and paying the CCC copyright charges, which we will charge back to your department. 

You can also search and obtain permissions using CCC's pay-per-use services.

Note: The payment of the service fee is the responsibility of the individual user, not the Loma Linda University Libraries.

Notify CCC if there are publishers you would like added to the program. CCC will work with their Publisher Relations team to recruit these publishers to participate in the Annual Copyright License Program.

The Rule of "5"

Loma Linda University holds an Annual Academic Copyright License (AACL) from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC).  What this means is that all employees, and those affiliated with the University and the Medical Center, are free to use copyrighted material from any of the publications covered by the agreement. (the Library guide to Copyright explains all this).  However, for publications not covered in the agreement, the Library offers an interlibrary loan service where the Library would supply the article and pay the required copyright fee to CCC, which is factored into the ILL cost.  

Copyright laws are extremely complicated and confusing.   The US Congress in 1978, created a commission to offer guidelines, called CONTU guidelines.  The CONTU guidelines are not laws, they are simply what they are—guidelines, and includes the “Rule of 5” to simplify copyright laws for ILL purposes. It usually means no copyright fee for up to 5 “recently published” articles from a periodical title within one calendar year.  “Recently published” is understood to mean articles published within the past 5 years. It can also mean up to 5 copies of articles or chapter from a non-periodical work within a calendar year.  Copyright Basics is a short video on YouTube that explains this in more detail.

The “Rule of 5” puts the burden on Libraries to keep track of all ILL requests to make sure the  Library is compliant with copyright laws.  You can help the Library in this effort by directing all article requests from publications not covered by ACL to the Library’s ILL Office and to Ivanejoy Tamano who diligently tracks and implements the “Rule of 5.”

License Features and Benefits

  • Single institution-wide license that provides wide coverage while reducing the need to pay-per-use permissions.
  • Extends to the institution's students studying abroad, satellite campuses and distance education programs.
  • Covers course materials produced for the institution by off-campus copy shops, bookstores and national course pack providers.
  • Operational efficiency: "Check and go permissions" reduces the time/cost associated with searching for, obtaining and reconciling permissions on transactional basis.
  • Increased copyright compliance across the institution.