Copies of copyrighted materials are placed on reserve by the library with the assumptions that they have been made in compliance with fair use provisions and the Guidelines for Classroom Copying, and that they are copyright compliant. Copies of articles may not be on reserve for concurrent semesters without the copyright holder's written permission.
The following two groups of items may be placed on reserve without obtaining copyright permission or paying copyright royalties.
Items that fall under fair use are assessed by 4 factors:
- non-profit educational purpose
- nature of the work
- amount or scope (limited to brief portions)
- effect of use on sales of the material
Materials not covered or not protected by copyright that may be placed on reserve for one term without obtaining copyright permission are:
- government documents
- older publications that are in the public domain
exams, lecture notes, syllabi
Materials which may be placed on reserve for one term without obtaining copyright permission include:
- a single photocopy of a chapter from one book
- a single photocopy of an article from one journal, magazine or newspaper
- a short story, an essay or a short poem
- a chart, a graph, a diagram, a drawing, a cartoon or a picture from a book, magazine or newspaper
Restrictions:
When it is required under
fair use guidelines to write for copyright permission:
- A journal article is needed on reserve for more than one term.
- Multiple articles from one magazine/journal are needed on reserve.
- One book chapter is needed on reserve for more than one term.
- Multiple chapters from one book are needed on reserve.
- Photocopies of all or part of commercially published study guides, answer keys, workbooks, or solutions manuals are needed on reserve.
Note: Student papers or other student-created materials must be accompanied by the student's written permission for their use and a signed FERPA release. FERPA forms are available in the library.
Permission may be obtained through the Copyright Clearance Center. If the Center will not facilitate this process, a letter, fax or email - seeking permission directly from the holder of copyright - will need to be written. Click here for sample letter.
Instructors may place the following on reserve without obtaining copyright permission:
- personal commercial DVDs/videos
- library-owned DVDs/videos
- rental DVDs/videos
- videos of classroom activities
- compact disks and commercially produced cassettes
If instructors do not wish to use their own personal (legally acquired) copies, the library suggests that they request the video/audio material to be purchased by Media Services.
Restrictions:
The library cannot accept most copies of the following without permission from a licensing center or from the program's producer:
- off-air and cable programs (off-air recordings)
- commercial videos, DVDs
- homemade cassettes, DVDs, CDs or other electronic format containing copyrighted music or other audio media
The library IS only able to accept program copies from broadcast networks with the following conditions:
- The copy must be of the initial broadcast.
- It must be accompanied with proof of its airdate (for example TV Guide).
- The copy may only be used for 10 days after the airdate.
- The instructor is responsible for destroying the copy 45 days after the airdate.
Permission may be obtained through
MPLC which represents over 60 producers- call them at 800-462-8855 or email at
info@mplc.com.
The above information was compiled from websites of the libraries of PCC, PSU, Kapiolani CC, Oberlin, Wheaton, Manhattanville College, and the University of Washington.
