[Eril-l] AI and electronic resources

Mon Jan 12 07:11:57 PST 2026

The answer to the question as to whether it's "our" responsibility probably lies in the actual wording of the license agreements, which have to be considered one by one.
Licenses typically have language that suggests libraries have to take reasonable measures or "due diligence", but never define what that is.
Some don't have that at all.

Here in Canada, the issue is complicated by the fact that the patrons are not themselves signatories to those licenses. If the license restrictions disallow uses that would be considered "fair dealing" (Canada's version of Fair Use), it's very much a gray area but interpretations of Supreme Court of Canada rulings suggest that we institutions can't restrict their fair dealings rights in licenses that they don't sign.

Melissa Belvadi
mbelvadi at upei.ca
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From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> on behalf of Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Sent: Friday, January 9, 2026 4:37 PM
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Subject: Re: [Eril-l] AI and electronic resources

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Yeah, I tend to agree. We have a library database usage policy page on our website where we would put information like this. I can appreciate the intent to safeguard the use of our resources as students are not always mindful of the implications of their actions, but attempting to hit every access point doesn’t seem tenable to me.

Buddy Pennington

Head of Systems & Technology, Librarian III

University of Missouri – Kansas City

Miller Nichols Library

From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> On Behalf Of Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l
Sent: Friday, January 9, 2026 1:44 PM
To: Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] AI and electronic resources

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This is an interesting question, I hadn't thought about it, but is it really our responsibility?

I mean if you put up some kind of pop-up that certainly doesn't prevent them from doing it anyway. And I don't see how you would hit all the places they could access an article from - for us, once they have signed in to the system they could access them from LibGuides, Google Scholar, through a Primo search, Browzine, LibKey Nomad, and probably more places. And for us if they are already on campus, for the most part they are automatically authenticated and don't have to sign in.

In theory someone could check out a print book and scan and upload all the contents from that into an AI platform. That wouldn't be legal either, but we couldn't really know that they did it or prevent it.

At what point would the liability fall on the student or other user rather than the library?  Essentially once the user accesses a website they are agreeing to the terms of that website, so shouldn't the databases post thost terms - JSTOR has a popup when you download an article that says:  "Your use of JSTOR indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use and the Privacy Policy."

It seems like the best you could do is place a notice somewhere on your website near the database similar to posting a copyright notice near a copy machine or scanner saying not to do it.

Susan R. Barber
Electronic Resources Coordinator
Paul and Rosemary Trible Library
Christopher Newport University
sbarber at cnu.edu<mailto:sbarber at cnu.edu>

757-594-7046

On Fri, Jan 9, 2026 at 1:53 PM Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>> wrote:

Dear All,

Recently our staff were discussing the legal implications of students uploading content from our electronic resources into outside AI platforms.  While this violates copyright it will likely also violate our licensing agreements with vendors.  Our staff attorney suggested adding a popup box that users would need to click to acknowledge that they will not do it somewhere on our website for liability purposes.  We use the Springshare/Libguide platform for our website and resources.  We know that we can’t put a popup or block in all the places online that students click through to get to our resources.  How are other libraries managing this issue?

Replies on or off list would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Kathleen M. Tobolewski, MLS

Metadata and E-Resource Management Librarian

Reeves Memorial Library

Seton Hill University

724-838-2438

ktobolewski at setonhill.edu<mailto:ktobolewski at setonhill.edu>

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