Scope: The Library occasionally receives requests from law offices concerning when a publication was first made publicly available at CUL and/or to make and authenticate a copy of that publication from Cornell’s holdings. Since this information may be filed with a court, this procedure insures that we are in compliance with University Counsel policy regarding these matters. The following steps for responding to these requests are based on guidelines from Peter Hirtle, CUL’s Intellectual Property Officer, in consultation with Cornell’s Office of University Counsel.
Contact: Jim LeBlanc
Unit: Senior Management Team
Date updated: 07/07/2015
Date of next review: June 2016
Requests to verify when a publication was first made publicly available at CUL
Requests to make and authenticate a copy of a publication from a publication from Cornell holdings
Requests for both a verification of date of availability and an authenticated photocopy
. Requests to verify when a publication was first made publicly available at CUL
- The LTS Acquisitions Coordinator, the Administrative Supervisor in Original Cataloging, or another knowledgeable LTS supervisor should field these requests, which may come directly from an attorney (or his/her office) or from staff elsewhere in CUL. Note: Forward requests related to Law Library items to the Associate Director of Information Management at Law.
- Advise the attorney or law office that we will do the required research and provide a signed, notarized affidavit containing this information for a processing fee of $100.
- Retrieve the item(s) and check date stamp(s), record creation dates in Voyager, and/or any other indications of when the item(s) would have first become available for patron use.
- Fill out the appropriate affidavit for reporting and attesting to the veracity of the information you provide, editing the text of the sample form as appropriate.
- Consult Lyndsi Prignon, or other CUL or CU notary public, to witness your signature and notarize the form.
- Prepare an invoice for the processing fee, editing the text of the sample form as appropriate.
- Mail, fax, or scan the affidavit and invoice as instructed by the attorney or legal office that requested the information.
- Submit copies of the affidavit to the CUL’s Intellectual Property Officer, the AUL for Library Administrative Services, and the Director of Library Technical Services .
- Submit copy of the invoice to the appropriate accounts representative, indicating that payment should deposited in LTS account L54-3700.
B. Requests to make and authenticate a copy of a publication from a publication from Cornell holdings
- The Olin/Uris Interlibrary Services Lending Unit handles these requests – see https://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/content/interlibrary-lending#Affidavit%20request. The attorney (or his/her office) must submit the request directly to this unit, along with an explicit request for an affidavit.
- Note that there is a $100 processing fee for fulfilling these requests, plus the cost of photocopying.
C. Requests for both a verification of date of availability and an authenticated photocopy
- Alert the requestor that he/she must contact the Olin/Uris Interlibrary Services Lending Unit directly to request the authenticated photocopy, along with an explicit request for an affidavit. CUL considers the request for the photocopy, plus the affidavit, as a separate transaction from the query regarding when a document was first made available to the public. There is a $100 processing fee for each transaction, plus the cost of photocopying.
- Complete Steps A.1-6 and A.8-9 above, then forward the item(s) and documentation to Olin/Uris Interlibrary Services Lending Unit in B42 Olin Library. Olin/Uris ILS staff will forward the affidavits and invoices, along with the photocopy, to the requestor