When you use electronic information resources such as licensed databases and electronic journals, comply with the copyright law and terms of use strictly.

 Most distributors decide their own usage policy. Please be aware that they generally prohibit the following uses:

  • Large-scale downloading that is indistinguishable from non-individual use
  • Use for any purpose other than academic research and education
  • Reproduction and distribution to others
  • Any other activities that infringes on the copyright law

 If you do not comply with these terms and conditions, it may result in loss of access to these resources for the entire Tokyo Tech community.

Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions

All resources such as literary works, pictures and figures provided via the internet are guaranteed for copyrights under copyright law.You must not alter them or reproduce them onto other mediums without the copyright owner's permission, even if for academic, non-commercial use.

To violate copyright is against the copyright law, which may result in a penalty or penal servitude.

If you need detailed information about the copyright law, please refer to this page.

Terms of Use

There are variations in each distributor's terms of use. However, these things below are prohibited by almost all distributors. If you need detailed information, please refer to their websites.

1. Systematic or excessive downloading

It is prohibited to download a lot of files continuously using automated downloading software. Even if you download manually, it shall be considered as excessive use if you download a lot of files at one time. Please download only the needed volume of files.

Some citation management tools have find full-text functions which download files from websites. Be careful with using any automated file import features because the actions may be recognized as an unusual behavior or excessive downloading by publishers' security systems.

2. Use for any purpose other than academic research and education.

Use for any purpose other than academic research and education is not allowed.

3. Reproduction and distribution to others.

Most electronic resources are governed by license agreements which restrict the use to Tokyo Tech faculty, students, staff and other authorized users.

FAQ

Q. What do distributors consider as "excessive downloading" ?

A.  Here are several examples:

  • Downloading entire issues or volumes of an e-journal.
  • Rapidly or continuously downloading one article after another.
  • Using robots, spiders, or other automated downloading programs or devices.

Q.  What happens if the license is violated ?

A.  In most cases, the distributor notifies the library of violation and we are supposed to investigate in order to request restoration. Meanwhile, the distributor also suspends access to all electronic resources they provide for the entire Tokyo Tech community.

Q.  Are there any cases of suspensions of access in the past ?

A.  Yes:

  1.   A person accessed an electronic journal and was continuously viewing the full-text articles. After an hour, he suddenly couldn't access the resources. He was just displaying the articles, but the distributor counted the operations as downloading. He accessed internet via the proxy server provided by the Global Scientific Information and Computing Center (GSIC), so other people who used the same proxy server were also blocked access to the resources.
  2.   A person enabled the "Save Tabs" option of a web browser, and closed a window with tabs, which included some full-text pdf files of journal articles, left open. When he reopened the browser, access to the resources was blocked because the distributor regarded the automatic reopening of multiple pdfs as a massive access.
  3.   A graduate student accessed electronic journals and he searched for articles for about an hour and downloaded about 10 articles. Then, the distributor informed the library that the IP was blocked due to more than 100 actions in 60 seconds. Please note that even if you do not download a lot of files, actions more than a certain amount in a short time can be regarded as a systematic access.

Please be aware that publishers monitor the use of electronic resources to ensure that the terms of the license agreement are enforced.

E-resources Available at Tokyo Tech