Course Reserves Copyright Guidelines

The Copyright Act allows individuals to photocopy copyrighted works without securing permission from the copyright owner when the photocopying amounts to a "fair use" of the material (Title 17 U.S. Code, section 107). In accepting personal copies for reserve, the Rod Library assumes that they have been made in compliance with the "fair use" provisions of Title 17 and the Rod Library's reserve "fair use" copyright guidelines.

• The distribution of the same photocopied material occurs only once without seeking permission from the publisher.  For subsequent use, written permission must be on file with the Library Services Desk.
• The amount of material and substantiality of the portion of the work used should be reasonable in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole [for example: a chapter of a book, an article from a periodical or newspaper, a short story, short essay, or short poem, a chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon or picture].
• The number of copies should be reasonable in light of the number of students enrolled, the difficulty and time of assignments, and the number of other courses which may assign the same material. Generally, one copy for every 25 students will be placed on reserve with a maximum of 5 copies.
• A maximum of 25 titles for one course at the section level will be allowed on reserve.
• The effect of placing the material on reserve should not be detrimental to the market for the work. In general the library should own at least one copy of the work.
• The complete bibliographic citation of the article and copyright notice must appear on the first page of the photocopy

Library Services will place items on electronic reserve following the “fair use” provisions of Title 17, Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Copyright law is open to interpretation by courts. Rod Library reserves the right to have more restrictive guidelines than stated explicitly in the U.S. Code.  The following "Fair Use" guidelines will apply when placing materials on electronic reserve:

• The distribution of the same photocopied/electronic material occurs only once without seeking permission from the publisher.  For subsequent use, written permission must be on file with Library Services Desk.
• The amount of material and substantiality of the portion of the work used should be reasonable in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole [for example: a chapter of a book, an article from a periodical or newspaper, a short story, short essay, or short poem, a chart, diagram, graph, drawing, cartoon or picture].
• A maximum of 25 titles for one course at the section level will be allowed on reserve.
• The material includes a copyright notice and complete bibliographic citation on the first page of the  photocopy.
• The effect of placing the material on reserve should not be detrimental to the market for the work.  Electronic reserve systems should not include any material unless the instructor or the library possesses a lawfully obtained copy.