The Law Library is registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, which acts as a clearinghouse for publishers and authors. Copyright permissions will be offered when available and are optional (within the bounds of copyright law). Fees noted below do not include copyright fees paid by the Law Library to the Center. If the request requires the purchase of copyright permissions, these charges are passed on to the requester.
Annual fee*
Full day: $6,600 (9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday)
Half day: $4,700 (9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday)
*Subscriber Referral Program: Existing subscribers can reduce their annual fees by 25 percent per subscriber.
Interlibrary Loan
Circulation policy:
Subscribers may borrow one- or two-volume works. Excluded are non-circulating items, e.g. all looseleafs, reference books, primary materials, serials, or individual volumes from sets of three volumes or more.
Borrowing period:
Two weeks (no charge)
Two renewals of two weeks in length (no charge) if the book is not needed by another patron
All loans are subject to be recalled at any time
Fines for late return:
$2 per day for the first three weeks overdue
$4 per day after three weeks, capped at 2 months
$2 (extra) per day for Core Collection titles (Core Collection items have very limited circulation)
$2 (extra) per day for an item which has been recalled
Charge for a lost book:
Overdue fines, plus replacement and processing costs
Enhanced Interlibrary Loan Service
As an optional $1,200 add-on to the annual fee, subscribers may also borrow books from non-law libraries on the Columbia Morningside campus. These items are subject to the same loan policy as described above.
Scanning Fees
Book/fiche/PDF scans: $1 per page
Rush service: $20. We guarantee complete scans sent within one hour of receiving cost approval to proceed.
For same-day service, rush fees are applicable to all requests approved less than one hour before the end of your firm’s subscription period.
Search fees
$20 per 15 minutes. We can do limited amounts of research, but we cannot provide legal advice or guarantee the completeness or accuracy of the material.
Retrieval Fee
$20 service fee for copy requests from other libraries on the Morningside campus. This fee is waived for Enhanced ILL Service subscribers. Same-day service is not always available for this type of request.
Access to the Law Library
Subscribers may visit the Law Library to access the collection. Visits must be arranged in advance by emailing firmserv@law.columbia.edu.
Delivery of Books and Documents
PDFs are sent via email.
Books can be pick-up by messenger from the Circulation Desk or sent via mail by FedEx; your FedEx account number must be provided.
For more information or to place a request, please contact firmserv@law.columbia.edu.