The purpose of this paper is to discuss how interlibrary loan practice and access to electronic resources in Canada are affected by copyright law, copyright collectives, and license agreements.
The author summarizes the current Canadian copyright laws and copyright collectives governing interlibrary loan practices, reviews the terms of typical electronic resource license agreements, describes how copyright laws in the USA are often imposed upon Canadian libraries through their various license agreements, and discusses the confusion created by these often conflicting obligations.
Although the current state of Canadian copyright law creates confusion for libraries, the promise of new legislation and future Supreme Court rulings may help resolve some thorny issues.
The paper provides a thorough review of Canadian copyright law as it pertains to interlibrary loan practices. It should be of great interest to any interlibrary loan practitioner who is interested in copyright issues, licensing agreements, and their combined impact upon the future of resource sharing.
