The Law Library provides access to many electronic resources in its collections. Some of these resources are available on-site only; some are available remotely to the Law School community via proxy, VPN, or individual login; some are made available to the wider Columbia University community.
Access to electronic resources through the Law Library is governed by the following:
- University, Law School, and Law Library policies
- Contractual license and terms of service agreements with publishers and vendors
- Copyright law
The following actions constitute violations of appropriate use:
- Systematic or substantial downloading or printing of content. Please be aware that downloading an entire issue of a journal or an entire book is often viewed as systematic downloading. The use of spider or crawler programs to capture content is prohibited. Research often involves textual analysis of collections of materials; please consult with the Law Library about clearing such activities with database providers.
- Sharing content with unauthorized users. Sharing content or access to content outside the Columbia community may be seen as a violation.
- Altering content or creating derivative content.
- Use of content or access to content for commercial purposes.
- Any activity that may infringe or obfuscate the copyright notice or statement associated with the content.
Violators may be contacted by a representative of the Columbia University Libraries, the director of the Law Library, the dean of students of the Law School, Law School Information Technology, or Columbia University Information Technology. Violators’ access to the resource in question or to all Law Library-provided licensed electronic resources may be terminated. Please be aware that, for some violations, the vendor or publisher of the resource may terminate access unilaterally and for all members of the university community until the Law Library responds to the complaint.
If you believe you have a legitimate need to use a Law Library resource in a fashion that may constitute a violation, or you are not sure if your need would constitute a violation, please contact the Reference Librarian on duty for assistance.
More information:
Computing, Network, and Information Policies
Copyright Advisory Services of Columbia University