Administration of the Collection

Having settled the conditions of deposit and access, collecting centres also have to ensure that they are applied. This may be less than a straightforward matter with a large collection in which copyright is not always held by the institution. The need for efficient administrative procedures is further increased by the fact that the control of further copying may be at best difficult and at worst impossible once recordings or transcripts are permitted to circulate outside the institution responsible for them. In an extreme case, of private copyright material being published without the proper clearance having been obtained the collecting centre should have made sure it can demonstrate to the copyright holder that everything reasonably possible was done to safeguard his interests.

The practical means of achieving this end will vary according to the policy of the collecting institution and, perhaps according to national laws. But the principles involved are first, to set out clearly the conditions under which access is granted to an archive collection and. secondly to secure the user's formal agreement to those conditions. Parts of two administrative documents which have been designed and used for these kinds of purposes are reproduced below as examples:-

a. TERMS OF SALE

(iv) The Department's recordings and transcripts are sold on the understanding that they are for the private use of the purchaser only. No commercial use of the material is permitted, neither may it be copied or otherwise reproduced in any form whatsoever without the prior written permission of the Keeper of the Department of Sound Records.

(v) Certain recordings and transcripts in which the Museum does not hold the copyright may be purchased by bona fide educational establishments. A senior representative (e.g. head of department) must sign a declaration which prescribes the use which will be made of such material before copies will be provided. The Department reserves the right to limit the quantity of recordings and transcripts which are not Museum copyright that any single establishment may purchase.

(vi) In all cases except (v) above copies of recordings and transcripts in which the Museum does not hold the copyright will only be provided after written permission has been obtained by the user from the appropriate copyright holder.

b. PRIVATE COPYRIGHT RECORDINGS/TRANSCRIPTS*
DECLARATION OF USE
I have read and agree to abide by the terms under which private copyright recordings/transcripts* are sold by the Museum. I declare that:-

1    The recordings will not be used for any purpose whatsoever other than that for which they are ordered; namely
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
__________________________________
2    The recordings/transcripts* will only be used on the premises of this establishment.
3    No further copies whatsoever will be made of the recordings/transcripts* supplied by the Museum.

Name_________________________ Position_______________________________

Establishment_____________________

Date_________________________Signature______________________________

*Please delete as appropriate

It should be said that most users of reference collections are responsible people, who probably themselves recognise that the existence and development of the archive services they are using need to be controlled against those few who are not. For its part, the collecting institution should ensure that these procedures are not a handicap to any proper use of its materials but only a safeguard against abuse.