Coalition for Networked Information 
Information Policies:  A Compilation of Position Statements, Principles, 
Statutes, and Other Pertinent  Statements



Chemical Abstracts Service


2540 Olentangy River Road
P.O. Box 3010
Columbus, OH 43210
614-447-3600

Copying Guidelines

Source:  Library Journal, August 1989, New York, page 28.

An individual can make 50 copies of information (either in print or electronic format) for use by the individual and the individual's immediate group, department, etc. Five additional copies can be made for individuals outside the group but within the organization. All copies must carry notification that the material is copyrighted by CAS. Information can also be used in a bibliography as long as the bibliography is supplemental to the main body of the work.

General Guidelines for the Use of CAS Information

Source:  General Guidelines for the Use of CAS Information, 
Chemical Abstracts Service, 2540 Olentangy River Road, P.O. 
Box 3010, Columbus, OH 43210, April 1989.

CAS information services are delivered to users as intellectual property, copyrighted by the American Chemical Society and subject to the provisions of international copyright conventions. CAS exists for the purpose of providing information services, and we encourage users to make full and productive use of the information they obtain from us. These Guidelines express our view of appropriate uses of information services. The Guidelines apply to all forms of distribution (printed, microform, electronic, etc.). These Guidelines are meant to be read as a set, not taken individually out of the context of the other points.

What You May Do

All of the following uses may be made without written permission from ACS and without further royalty payments to ACS.

  1. You may copy and use information from CAS services and keep it as long as you wish for your own individual use.

  2. You may make up to 50 copies of information from CAS services and distribute them to others "inside" your immediate work group, project team, research unit, or classroom within your university, corporation, government agency, or other organization where you are employed.

  3. You may make up to five copies of information from CAS services and distribute them to other "outside" your immediate work group, project team, or research unit, provided that they are employed by the same university, corporation, government agency, or other organization where you are employed.

  4. Information Brokerage: You may make and provide one copy of information you have obtained from CAS services to your customer outside your organization, for whom you have been engaged to conduct specific searches, provided that you place our copyright notice on the material. (You may keep a copy for backup purposes.) Your customer may subsequently use the information according to these Guidelines.

  5. You may use CAS information services to compile a bibliography of citations, provided that the bibliography is supplemental to the main content of your own copyrighted or uncopyrighted work.

  6. You may include CAS information in reports to the government when the information and the reports are required by law or administrative policy.

  7. You may sort CAS information, edit it, reformat it electronically, and combine it with other information, as long your use is consistent with the other conditions described in these Guidelines.

  8. You may include information from CAS services for use in a critical review, presentation, or published work, where the sole purpose of such inclusion is to explain the use of CAS services. You should indicate CAS information is reprinted by permission of the American Chemical Society.

What You May Do with Special Permission

If your current or planned use of CAS information goes beyond what is described above, please contact us to discuss special permission. Typical uses that we permit, upon completion of suitable business arrangements, are the following:

  1. One-time or periodic publication of CAS information in bulletins, bibliographies, etc., either for distribution outside your organization or within your organization if the use exceeds what is described above.

  2. The unlimited copying of CAS information within the university, corporation, government agency, or other organization where you are employed.

  3. Recording of CAS information in a database for searching by individuals within your organization.

  4. Recording of CAS information in a database for searching by individuals outside your organization. (Normally this use requires a specially negotiated license arrangement, and the payment of fees and use charges.)

What You Must Do

When you make copies of information from CAS services, you must do your part in preventing the theft or inadvertent illicit dissemination of CAS's intellectual property. You must display the following ACS Copyright Notice conspicuously at least once on each packet of information you distribute: Copyright (YEAR) by the American Chemical Society. (Use the year of the publication in the case of printed and microform services; in the case of information derived from an online service, use either the year provided by the online service, or the current year.)

What You May Not Do

The uses which are prohibited without express, prior permission from CAS include:

  1. You may not copy or otherwise record whole printed issues or entire electronic files provided by CAS. (This flagrant violation of the law is absolutely prohibited.)

  2. You may not copy or otherwise record portions of an established CAS publication or database with the purpose of, or the effect of, avoiding subscription fees or use charges for that publication or database, except as provided in these Guidelines.

Please Note:

  1. These Guidelines apply to "users" --persons such as scientists, engineers, librarians, information specialists, and others working in the organization that ultimately consumes the information. They do no apply to organizations such as CAS licensees, marketing agents, gateway service operators, or other commercial redistributors of information; use by such organizations must be covered by separate formal agreements.

  2. These are guidelines only and are subject to change from time to time at the discretion of CAS.

  3. The American Chemical Society (ACS) owns all right, title and interest, including copyright, in all CAS information Services--and retains all such rights in providing information to you. CAS reserves the right to disallow any specific usage that in our estimation exceeds what is intended under these Guidelines.

  4. While we carefully attempt to avoid errors in CAS information services, ACS is not responsible in any way in the unlikely event that errors should appear. If you discover an error, please report it by contacting CAS Customer Services.

For further information, please contact CAS Customer Services, P.O. 
Box 3012, Columbus, OH  43210, U.S.A.; (614) 447-3731 or toll-free in the 
U.S.,  (800) 848-6538.

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