RESERVES & COPYRIGHT:

• E-Reserves
• E-Reserves FAQ
• Reserve Policy
• Reserves, Copyright & Fair Use
• Copyright Permission

Library Reserves, Copyright & Fair Use

Making readings available for students can be vital to teaching at the University. Often materials that a faculty member may wish to provide are protected by the copyright laws of the United States. As responsible members of the University, faculty members are obligated to abide by the provisions of the law as far as possible. Articles and portions of books cannot be reproduced unless they are covered by the fair use provision of the copyright law or permission has been sought from the holder of the copyright.

Fair Use

Materials that are not subject to copyright protection and may be used freely are:

• US Government Documents
• Works in the public domain, i.e. not covered by copyright because of date or because the author did not choose to copyright the work
• Works that lack originality e.g. phone book
• Ideas, processes, methods, and systems described in copyrighted works
• Facts
• Freeware
• Materials that are created by the faculty (such as lecture notes, exams, and syllabi)

Some copyrighted materials that can be posted electronically or copied as student readings without getting permission from the copyright owner fall under the "fair use" provision of the Act. Fair use provides that certain limited use of copyrighted materials for such purposes as teaching, criticism, reporting, scholarship and research is not an infringement of copyright.

Materials that do not require copyright permission are:

• A journal article that appears full-text in a Dominican University subscribed on-line database
• A single journal article used for one semester
• A single book chapter used for one semester
• Works of art used for one semester
• Brief selections from a journal article or book chapter

The following are examples of materials that fail to meet the criteria of "fair use", and therefore require obtaining copyright permission:

• A journal article, or book chapter that has been previously placed on electronic reserve or Blackboard
• Multiple chapters from a single book or multiple articles from a single issue of a journal
• Documents that are consumable in the course of study or teaching ( e.g workbooks, exercises)
• Fictional and other creative works (e.g. a poem, a play)
• Articles or parts of books that are copied and sold as course packets

Making Readings available for your students:

Copyright must always be followed as closely as possible in making readings available to your students. The Copyright Permission Center of the Library can assist you in seeking copyright permission and in providing your students with selected readings.

Three methods for providing readings are:

For Further Information: University of St Francis has an appealing site that explains fair use and other aspects of the copyright law.

Questions to;
Inez Ringland
708-524-6873
ringland@dom.edu