Copyright is applicable to reserve materials. Compliance is the responsibility of the faculty member.
U.S. copyright law's fair use exemption (section 107) allows the use of copyrighted materials without obtaining permission.
The library uses a four-factor analysis which must be applied to each use to determine if fair use applies to each reserve request:
When it doesn't meet fair use? Faculty members are responsible for obtaining permission from the copyright owner.
What is the Library's role? Although it is the instructor's responsibility to determine fair use and obtain permission, the library will not place items on reserve if the nature, scope, or extent of the materials is beyond reasonable limits of fair use.
Interlibrary Loan: Materials obtained through interlibrary loan cannot be placed on reserve.
1. What can be placed on reserve?
2. I have an article that I got through interlibrary loan. Can I place that on reserve?
No.
Physical items obtained through interlibrary loan have various due dates decided on by the lending library. Almost no lending libraries have semester-long due dates. Because of this, placing physical items on course reserve is impractical.
Digital items obtained through interlibrary loan have different copyright permissions. Because we do not have access to the lenders' licenses, we cannot know if they allow the item to be placed on reserve by another institution.
3. Should I link to a document or make a copy (pdf)?
The best practice under fair use is to link to a document (usually on a website or in the library databases) whenever possible.
4. I have done the fair use analysis and believe I need permission from the copyright owner. Where do I get copyright permission?
The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at www.copyright.com is the first place to check for permission. CCC facilitates copyright compliance by providing one-stop-shopping for those seeking permission to use materials.
5. How long does it take and what does it cost?
The short answer is “it depends”. See the Pay-Per-Use Services brochure at the Copyright Clearance Center for more information on getting permission.
6. What if I think I’m following fair use and I’m wrong and violate copyright?
It is important to document a good-faith effort to conform to copyright law. Although rare, there have been recent cases of academic institutions being sued by copyright owners and publishers for copyright infringement. It is recommended that you document your good faith effort by conducting a fair use analysis and saving the checklist as a record of your effort to conform to the guidelines.
Item found on library database: Articles and e-books
Item found on a website, not a library database: Articles, e-books, handouts, entire websites, etc.
Item held in the library’s physical collection: Articles and chapters from books
Item owned by faculty: Chapters from books
Item owned by faculty: Articles