Copyright clearance survey is underway

General Article

All staff asked to comply

As part of Fred Hutchinson's annual license agreement with Copyright Clearance Center, a survey of internal use of copyright-protected works must be conducted every two years. The survey enables the Copyright Clearance Center to gather data necessary to calculate royalty payments due to publishers and other rights-holders on behalf of organizations such as ours that purchase an annual license. The center's license allows for unlimited use of copyright-protected works such as journals, books, magazines and newspapers.

To complete the survey, for 60 days we will record our activities related to photocopying information. In order to provide accurate data to the Copyright Clearance Center, all are asked to participate in the survey.

Some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the survey are answered below.

Arnold Libary staff thank you in advance for your participation. If you have any additional questions, contact the library at (206) 667-4314.

Survey FAQ's

How will I know when the survey begins?
Posters with survey instructions will be placed at designated copy machines in the Hutchinson, Weintraub and Thomas buildings. It is scheduled to begin on Feb 1.

How long will the survey last?
60 days.

Why a photocopy survey?
We are required to do the survey under the terms of our license with the Copyright Clearance Center.

What is the benefit of using a survey to gather this information?
Collecting this data via a survey every two years rather than continually tracking actual day-to-day use activities makes it possible to use copyrighted materials registered with Copyright Clearance Center without requesting and obtaining permission for each and every activity.

How does the survey affect me personally?
By participating in this survey, you help make it easier for us to comply with copyright law and protect our institution from costly noncompliance risks.

Through this survey could anybody else, such as a competitor, find out what we are photocopying or researching?
The data from the survey is held completely confidential by Copyright Clearance Center, and no individual company's data will ever be reported. Copyright Clearance Center will aggregate our survey data with that of other companies to calculate the royalty fees due to publishers and other rights-holders.

What's wrong with making photocopies of copyrighted materials without a license or permission?
It is against U.S. Copyright law. That is why we've purchased an annual license with Copyright Clearance Center, to enable compliance with copyright law without the burden of securing permission each time we use copyright-protected works internally.

What are some examples of copyrighted materials?
Some examples of copyrighted materials are books, magazine articles, articles from scientific or technical journals, newspaper or newsletter articles, photographs, illustrations and tables.

How will we collect the data?
Data Collection Boxes supplied by Copyright Clearance Center will be placed near copy machines, along with survey stickers used to record specific information such as number of pages copied, number of copies made, etc. Each time you make a photocopy, you should make an extra copy of the front page of the publication you are copying, complete a survey sticker, stick the sticker to the photocopy and drop it in the Data Collection Box.

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