Reserve Materials

Class notes and quizzes, student papers (by permission), links to websites or links to materials available through the Libraries electronic subscriptions, small photocopied portions of copyrighted works, and any photocopied portion of items in the public domain may be placed on either traditional or electronic reserve.

Traditional reserves can also include Libraries owned books and media and instructor-owned books, journals, and media (must be original copies).

Items not eligible for reserve include Libraries-owned journals and non-circulating items; items borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, Prospector, or from another library via other means; complete or excessive reproductions of copyrighted materials, course packs, and consumable materials.

Reserve policies are based on the Fair Use provisions defined in the United States Copyright Act of 1976 along with the American Library Association and Association of College and Research Libraries guidelines.

Consult the Libraries Copyright Law guide for more information.

Fair Use allows limited use of material without the copyright owner's permission. These limitations affect the amount, the period of time, and the circumstances under which the copyrighted material may be used. The fact that the material is being used for educational purposes does not make it exempt from Fair Use limitations.

Fair Use is defined in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976:

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

In addition to Fair Use guidelines, Libraries policy generally allows for the use of:

• One article per issue of a journal or newspaper

• One graph, table, photo, or illustration per issue of a journal or newspaper

• Up to 20% of a book or similar copyrighted work

Items available through the Libraries' electronic subscriptions are governed by vendor license agreements and may allow for a larger amount of material to be used.

Instructors are responsible for securing permission or clearance to use materials in excess of the Libraries policies.

Consult the Libraries Copyright Law guide for more information.