Most publishers charge a royalty fee on copies made of their materials. This is commonly referred to a copyright fee. U.S. copyright law allows copyright holders to set these fees as they see fit. MITS is legally required to pay these fees when making copies of journal articles and other documents.

MITS pays copyright fees through the Transactional Reporting Service of the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) or through direct arrangements with copyright holders.

There is no "typical" fee amount, but keep in mind:

• fees can range from $3.00 to $75.00 or more per article
• the average fee MITS pays to copryight holders is $29
• if the copyright fee for a single article exceeds $55.00, we will contact you regarding the cost prior to filling your request, but you can also set a different copyright cap with us

Occasionally, a publisher will not list their materials with the CCC. This makes reporting copyright difficult and requires extra research and time by MITS staff. These requests are charged at a special rate as part of our ETC Service. To obtain an estimate of specific copyright fees prior to submitting your request, please contact our office.

The fee paid on your request covers distribution of one (1) copy to you. If you make and/or distribute copies of the document, it is your responsibility to follow copyright law.

For additional information on copyright, the following links may be helpful:

U.S. Copyright Office
U.S. Copyright Law
Copyright Clearance Center