Copying service in the NDL and the copyright law of Japan. CDNLAO Newsletter 54

No. 54, November 2005

Special topic: Copyright issues in library services

Copying service in the National Diet Library and the copyright law of Japan

by Makiko Izumi, National Diet Library

I. Outline of the copying service of the National Diet Library
II.Copying service and the copyright law of Japan
         1. Upper limit of copying without permission of a copyright holder
         2. Copying all pages of an article in a serial publication
         3. To reproduce all pages of a publication on which copyright exists
         4. A book published in a foreign country
         5. Facsimile transmission of copies
III. Other problems and issues in copying services

I. Outline of the copying service of the National Diet Library

Reproductions of the NDL's collections are available through either of the following means: requesting in person or sending an order. There are three facilities where the NDL provides services directly to visitors: The Tokyo Main Library, the International Library of Children's Literature in Ueno, Tokyo, and the Kansai-kan in Kyoto. The Tokyo Main Library provides more extensive on-site public services than the other two facilities while the Kansai-kan takes the role of enhancing remote reader services because that is defined as one of the main functions assigned to the Kansai-kan.

While the copying service includes inter-film printing (printing from microfiche to microfiche or from microfilm to microfilm) and photographic microfilming, most of the requests are for ordinary photocopy and paper copy from microfilms. On-site users can request either "same-day photoduplication services" through which users obtain copies approximately 30 minutes after request (not more than 80 pages at a time) or "regular service" through which users collect copies several days later or have them mailed. The NDL provides 7.3 million sheets of copies of paper-form materials per year, 85% of which are processed in the Tokyo Main Library, and 980 thousand sheets of paper copy of microfilms and microfiches, 95% in the Tokyo Main Library. Although the copying service for visitors to the Tokyo Main Library is the largest in scale, 40% of the copies for remote users are provided by the Kansai-kan which holds foreign periodicals, science and technology materials, Japanese doctoral dissertations and frequently-used Japanese periodicals.

II. Copying service and the copyright law of Japan

The copyright law of Japan provides that "The purpose of this Law is ...(*snip*), to secure the protection of the rights of authors, etc., having regard to a just and fair exploitation of these cultural products, and thereby to contribute to the development of culture" (Article 1). To fulfill of this purpose, the law puts a limit on the rights of a copyright holder for reproduction at a library (Article 31). It must be noted that in Japan, reproduction is allowed only when there is an applicable article which explicitly limits the rights of a copyright holder. Otherwise, even in such a case that an Anglo-American law would deem "fair use," it is not allowed to make a copy without permission of a copyright holder. The following are examples of how the copyright law is applied in copying services at the NDL:

1. Upper limit of copying without permission of a copyright holder

During the terms copyright endures(*note), only "a part of a work" can be copied at a library without permission from the copyright holder.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs and many experts interpret "a part of a work" as a portion not exceeding half of the work. However, there is no all-inclusive definition on where a work begins and ends. The NDL considers the upper limit of copying as follows:

Book (monograph): i. A book complete in one volume: half of the body text; ii. A book consisting of several volumes: half of each volume; iii. A collected edition, anthology of short stories, etc.: half of each story, poem, thesis, etc.
Map: i. A sheet of map: half of the sheet; ii. An atlas book: one side of a two-page spread
Music score: Half of a piece of music
Serial publication (ex. Journals) *Not applicable to the latest issue. See "2. Copying all pages of an article in a serial publication".: i. Each article: all pages of each article; ii. Articles carried in one issue: half of all pages of one issue

*A map published by the Geographical Survey Institute (Kokudo Chiri-in)
While approval from the director general of the Institute is required under Article 29 of the Survey Law, the Institute, in deference to the provision of Article 31 of the Copyright Law, allows an NDL user to obtain without approval a reproduction of up to half of a map, one set per person, provided that it is for the purpose of research.

*A residence map of Zenrin Co., Ltd.
Zenrin Co., Ltd. allows an NDL user to reproduce without permission up to a half of a volume of a residence map published by Zenrin. Reproducing a residence map published by other companies: a two-page spread without permission of the copyright holder may not be allowed.

*Commentary and explanation
Every commentary and explanation of a painting, photograph, JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard), etc. is also subject to copyright protection. Therefore, you cannot reproduce more than half without permission of the copyright holder.

2. Copying all pages of an article in a serial publication

Copying all pages of an article in a serial publication can be allowed only if "a considerable period of time" has passed after it was issued. Therefore, users cannot copy all pages of an article in the latest issue. When the publication has become unavailable on the market, it is considered that "a considerable period of time" has passed. The NDL interprets "a considerable period of time" according to the following standards:

Weekly magazine: one week (available from the same day of the next week)
Monthly magazine: one month (available from the same day of the next month)
Seasonal or annual magazine: three months after publication (available from the same day three months later)
Newspaper (daily): one day (available from the next day)

3. To reproduce all pages of a publication on which copyright exists

The applicant must obtain written permission of the copyright holder (Article 63). There is no fixed form. A postcard will be accepted if it clearly shows that the copyright holder has given the applicant permission and bears his/her seal or signature.

4. A book published in a foreign country

Many countries including Japan have signed international agreements for copyright protection such as the "Berne Convention," "Universal Copyright Convention" and "Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)." A work created by a national of the signatories of these agreements or first published in those counties is protected according to the copyright law of Japan under the principle of national treatment. (Article 6)

5. Facsimile transmission of copies

Although Article 31 allows libraries to reproduce materials without obtaining the permission of the copyright holder, it does not permit them to send the copies by fax or electronically. To receive copies by fax, the applicant has to obtain the permission of the copyright holder, who has the exclusive right to make the public transmission as stipulated in Article 23.

As the NDL provides copying service within the limits of the copyright law, it confronts many legal limitations and sometimes has to reject a user's request. To help users understand the reasons for rejection, the NDL provides a brochure "Q and A: Copying Service and the Copyright." (English translation available in PDF file [33KB].)

(*note) Duration of copyright:

Work in general: a period of fifty years following the death of the author (Article 51)
Work bearing the name of a corporate body: until the end of a period of fifty years following the making public of the work (Article 53)

*English translation of the copyright law of this article is cited from the Copyright Research and Information Center (CRIC) website
(http://www.cric.or.jp/cric_e/clj/clj.html)

III. Other problems and issues in copying services

The copying service at the NDL is limited by copyright as well as practical capability and preservation needs. In principle, all copies at the NDL are made by operators in charge only of making copies. (In the Kansai-kan, self-service copying is partly available.) To handle requests for nearly 25,000 pages of copy per day, the NDL does not provide optional copying menus which could be easily available if you yourself operated an ordinary copier (for example, enlargement/reduction). Moreover, users are not allowed to download electronic information because of the limitation of the copyright law and/or system environment, nor can they photocopy some materials that might be damaged by the process.

The Kansai-kan was opened in October 2002 in the southern part of Kyoto prefecture, close to Nara prefecture. As its major objective was the enhancement of remote reader services, with the establishment of the Kansai-kan a function enabling registered individuals to request copying through the Internet was added to the Internet NDL-OPAC. Compared with the situation before the opening of the Kansai-kan, copying services for remote users increased from 90 thousand items (FY 2001) to 270 thousand (FY 2004), among which are 150 thousand increase of the request from individual users. We receive approximately 2,600 requests per year from foreign residents. Although the NDL-OPAC provides a menu in English, the request function is available only in the Japanese version.

In October 2004, two years after the Kansai-kan's opening, the Tokyo Main Building was refurbished and the service time was extended by two hours with a new service system for on-site users. Concerning copying services, while users had not been able to request "same-day photoduplication" more than three times per day before, now they can request as many times as they wish in a day. Also introduced was a new service enabling users to place an order for copying articles included in the Japanese Periodicals Index through OPAC terminals in the library building, which reduces the procedure to request retrieval of the material. The total of pages copied has increased by more than 20 %, but, as the extension of service days and hours has expanded the time when requests can be made, there is no increase in waiting time. We have always been making efforts to provide swift and accurate service, and in order to improve services as well as to ensure the objectivity of assessment, service standards and an activity evaluation system have been introduced. (For details of service standards and the evaluation system, see http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/aboutus/ndl_vision.html .

The downside is that the enhancement of user services has unavoidably increased damage to library materials. In order to carry out our duty as a preservation library, it goes without saying that more attention has to be paid to the damage to library materials caused by their use. It remains a critical issue that accompanies copying services.

For copyright issues related to digitaization, see "Copyright research of Japanese books printed in the Meiji era: Behind the scenes of digitization." (NDL Newsletter No.134, Dec. 2003)