Q. Hi, I have a question about using the U.S. based service Dropbox.com for uploading articles to be shared with other SFU researchers. I have some concerns about this practice. Is this consistent with the terms of use for the electronic journals and SFU?
Thanks,
A. Hello,
Using Drop Box to share articles is likely to be considered a violation of the majority of our license terms.
Here is the relevant statement from the CRKN model license, which is the standard license for many of our electronic journals:
http://www.crkn.ca/sites/default/files/CRKNModelLicenseAgreementJan06.pdf
“Section 6. Prohibited Uses
6.1 Neither the Consortium nor Authorized Users nor Walk‐in Users may:
6.1.3 mount or distribute any part of the Licensed Material on any electronic network,
including without limitation the Internet and the World Wide Web without the prior
written consent of the Publisher or except pursuant to any separate agreement as the
Publisher and a Member may enter into.”
You may however (as indicated under Section 3. Usage Rights):
“3.2.4 Distribute single copies of individual articles or items of the Licensed Materials in print
or electronic form to other Authorized Users;” [emphasis added]
To share articles with other Authorized Users (current students, faculty or staff) at SFU, it would be better to provide a link to the article rather than making a copy of the material and posting it to a commercial website, even if it is a secure network.
Here are instructions on how to create stable links to electronic materials licensed by the library:
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/faqs/how-do-i-create-a-stable-link-to-an-online-journal-article-or-electronic-book
Irregardless of any specific license terms, making a digital copy of any copyrighted material, storing the copy and distributing it online, even via a secure network like WebCT, requires express permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher and author).
I hope that this clarifies the terms of our licenses and use of copyrighted electronic materials.
Let me know if you require any further information.
Sandra Wong
Electronic Resources Librarian