Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
Primary and secondary school educators have, with publishers, developed guidelines which allow a teacher to distribute photocopied materials to students in a class, without the publisher's prior permission, upon compliance with these and other conditions:
At the request of a faculty member, a library may photocopy and place on reserve excerpts from copyrighted works in its collection in accordance with the guidelines above, similar to those governing formal classroom distribution for face-to-face teaching discussed above. Hamilton College believes that these guidelines apply to the library reserve shelf to the extent it functions as an extension of classroom readings or reflects an individual student's right to photocopy for his personal scholastic use under the doctrine of fair use.
If the request calls for only one copy to be placed on reserve, the library may photocopy an entire article, an entire chapter from a book, or an entire poem. Requests for multiple copies on reserve should meet the following guidelines:
These guidelines apply to Electronic Reserves as well as paper copies. Copyright notices are applied to the documents before they are scanned for use on the Web. Electronic Reserves are available for use off campus by members of the Hamilton College Community only, and their use is protected by copyright.
Library staff can only scan documents for Electronic Reserves. Please visit the Information Commons Desk in Burke Library to learn how to scan documents and create PDF files.
Questions about Library Reserves?
Contact the Circulation Department at askcirc@hamilton.edu or (315) 859-4479.
These guidelines also apply to materials faculty members put directly into their Blackboard courses.
Educators should be aware that it may be possible to make use of copyrighted materials beyond what is provided under fair use, if permission is granted first. There may or may not be a charge, and permission may be refused, but it never hurts to ask.
First, determine ownership of the work. A Reference Librarian can help in determining whom to contact. The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) may be able to provide permission for using print materials. Media Library films are not covered by the CCC, so you will need to locate addresses of individual publishers.
Next, send a detailed letter of request, including the following:
You might also do the following:
The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education
Washington, D.C.: Center for Social Media, 2008.
This document was designed to help educators using media literacy concepts and techniques interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use based on the five principles that represent the media literacy education community's current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials in education.
