With respect to photocopies, the library's reserve policy is grounded in the law and the American Library Association recommendations set forth for fair use of copyrighted material. While copyright law is admittedly vague, the following limits are applied to ensure that we are within the bounds of copyright/fair use compliance.
Note: Determination for the number of copies you request to be placed on reserve should take into consideration the number of students in the class, and the timing and difficulty of the assignment.
Note: Cumulatively, you can have no more than 9 copied works per course per term. You cannot, for example, place 9 copies on reserve for a week and then replace them with 9 different copied works. Also, as part of the 9 total unique copies allowed, if claiming fair use, you should not have more than 3 occurrences for any one category (such as articles, book chapters, short stories, poems, excerpts, charts, graphs, cartoons, etc.)
Note: You may, however, copy 2 excerpts by the same author per course per term.
Note: You can choose to place the entire periodical issue/volume or whole work on reserve without having to secure permission for individual copies.
Note: There may be exceptions but we will follow the ALA "Model Policy Concerning College and University Photocopying for Classroom, Research and Library Reserve Use" guidelines as closely as possible. Personal photocopies may be placed on reserve under the presumption that the copy was lawfully made and fits within the fair use guidelines.
Note: You can claim fair use for a copy of an article, book chapter, short story, poem, excerpt, chart, graph, cartoon, etc. provided the use meets the four factors used to determine fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Law, and the copy has not previously been placed on reserve.
Just because you have a copy does not construe ownership of that work.
You may not assume that just because a use is for educational purposes it is automatically considered fair use.
A copyrighted work may not necessarily have a copyright notice on it.
If a work is out of print it still may be protected by copyright.
Publisher representatives do check copyright compliance anonymously.
Consider placing books, journals, videos, and other materials held by the library (or, that you have personally purchased) on reserve rather than making a copy of a portion of the work, thereby relieving you from having to secure copyright permission.
Consider putting together Course Packs that students can purchase from the bookstore. Contact Pat Schuring for further details regarding Course Packs.
If it is likely that you will make use of a monographic (or audio/visual) work more than once, consider purchasing for the library with your faculty allocation funds. Note: Per our collection development policy, the library will not normally purchase multiple copies of materials. However, exceptions may be made, for example, where multiple sections of a course are being taught simultaneously, or when an additional copy is deemed necessary for the purpose of course reserves. (In any case, due to the nature and intent of course reserves, library allocation funds will not be used for purchase of multiple reserve copies). Please direct questions regarding the collection development policy to Ken Gibson, Library Director at gibson@hanover.edu.
If you need to get permission for a copy, please adhere to the deadlines listed below to ensure that it is received in time for the library to be able to place on reserve at the beginning of the term. If a copy does not meet fair use we will not be able to place it on reserve until copyright permission has been obtained.
Review the library’s Reserve System Procedures for placing materials on course reserves.
If you need help getting permission to make copies to place on course reserves, please contact Pat Schuring, Faculty Secretary, Classic Hall, at schuring@hanover.edu.
To ensure enough time to obtain copyright permission for the beginning of the academic terms please note the following deadlines for requesting permission as stated in the faculty manual.
Fall Term – June 15th
Winter Term – October 15th
Spring Term – February 15th
Note: Any cost associated with securing copyright permission comes out of your department’s, not the library’s, budget.
If you need further help with the library’s policy on course reserve and Copyright Law, please contact Kelly Joyce at joyce@hanover.edu.
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