Fair Use and Copyright for E-Reserve

The Marriott Library reserves the right to refuse placing on e-reserve any materials which we believe may violate the fair use principles of copyright law.

Copyright law balances the intellectual property interests of authors, publishers and copyright owners with society's need for the free exchange of ideas. The fair use provision of the Copyright Act allows reproduction and other uses of copyrighted works under certain conditions for purposes such as criticism, teaching, scholarship or research.

The library policy for electronic reserve readings is derived from the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976. Section 107 permits making multiple copies for classroom use without payment of royalty or permission from the copyright holders. Libraries often pay a premium institutional subscription price for journals for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users.

Section 107 of the Copyright Act gives four factors used in determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use: All four of these factors are considered in determining whether use of a copyrighted work is "fair use".

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.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

General Guidelines

• All Use of materials placed on electronic reserves will be at the initiative of the faculty solely for the noncommercial, educational use of students.
• Whenever possible, materials to be copied or scanned will be purchased by the library.
• Longer works, such as complete books will not be scanned in their entirety for electronic reserve.
• There will be no charge for access. The charge for copies will be limited to the cost of printing.
• Copyright notice will appear on each electronic reserve item.
• Material will only be available during the term of the course.
• The library will follow the principles of fair use when placing materials on reserve.

Electronic copying and scanning of copyrighted works for library reserve and distance learning are unsettled areas of the law. The Marriott Library will monitor legal developments to assure that library services are in compliance with U.S. copyright law.

Copyright considerations illustrate how these principles may apply to your course readings.

To learn more about copyright and fair use, please read the Marriott Library Copyright Information Page.