It is Cochrane Collaboration policy that all review authors and others involved in the Collaboration should adhere to copyright legislation and the terms of the database licensing agreements. With respect to searching for studies, this refers in particular to adhering to the terms and conditions of use when searching databases and downloading records and adhering to copyright legislation when obtaining copies of articles. Review authors should seek guidance on this from their Trials Search Co-ordinator or local healthcare librarian, as copyright legislation varies across jurisdictions and licensing agreements across institutions.