Copyright Guidelines for Reserve
The following materials can be put on reserve without obtaining copyright permission:
- Books or videos owned by the Library
- Books owned by Faculty
- One article from a given issue of:
- a journal
- a magazine
- a newspaper
- Exams or lecture notes
- Publications of the federal government
- Student papers
- Documents freely available on the web to which the Library can link
- Where license agreements permit, links to full text articles available through the Library's subscription databases (InfoTrac, ProQuest, etc.)
- Works that are in the public domain
- Selections from books and anthologies (in accordance with the copyright guidelines in Circular 21)
- Poetry: (a) A complete poem if less than 250 words, or (b) from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words
- Prose: (a) Either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less
The following materials require copyright permission before being put on either physical or electronic reserve:
- Photocopies of more than one article from a single journal issue
- More than one chapter from a single book
- Photocopies of items that were on reserve for the same class during a previous semester without copyright permission
- Consumable items such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests
Obtaining Copyright Permission
When necessary, the Library will attempt to obtain required copyright permissions for materials placed on reserve. The Library reserves the right to refuse any document if there is a possibility of copyright infringement.
Websites for More Copyright Information
American Library Association Copyright Issues background discussion and current status of copyright legislation and related topics.
Copyright Sliderule. Created by ALA, this sliderule helps to determine when permission is needed based upon publication date.
U.S. Copyright Office Information Circulars: basic fact sheets and circulars on various copyright issues, including fair use. Circular 21 deals specificially with reproduction of copyrighted works by educators and librarians.
University of Texas Crash Course in Copyright: extensive primer on copyright issues. For a specific discussion of copyright and reserves, consult their section on Reserve Room Operations.