Publishers acknowledge that responsible libraries engage in interlibrary loan. Any library that wants to set up a document delivery service, for example to create a new income stream, should ask permission of the relevant publishers. As noted above, publishers have different policies, but they are likely to agree if the library pays their standard copyright fee per article. Electronic Licences From the above, it is clear that permission is required for many electronic activities. In the short term, the solution is electronic licensing.
Electronic products come with a licence agreement that indicates the terms and conditions of use.
Many publishers are developing electronic products for distribution or access on Internet or World Wide Web. The licence agreement may grant the library and its users access using passwords. As more electronic products are published, the terms and conditions are becoming more standard. And as electronic licensing for products becomes routine, more publishers are also developing licence agreements for scanning and electronic storage. The next step is probably to develop model licence agreements, as both publishers and libraries gain experience with how electronic information is actually used.