DRURY
UNIVERSITY GUIDELINES ON USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONIC
RESERVES/COURSE PAGES IN ERES
The guidelines on use of copyrighted materials for electronic reserves and course pages are generally derived from the fair use provisions of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 as amended. 17 USC Section 107 establishes that reproduction of copyrighted works for educational and research purposes does not constitute infringement if it conforms to four factors. The complete text of this section is as follows:
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 in 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The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
The collections of the Drury University Library are purchased with the understanding that they will be used by numerous students and researchers. The library pays institutional subscription rates for most of its journals that considerably exceed individual subscription rates because the publishers recognize that multiple uses will be made of these materials. Library electronic reserves provide an orderly means of making limited library materials available to all students enrolled in a class as requested by an instructor.
The following guidelines should be observed in including material on electronic reserves/course pages in ERes.
o Digital copies of personal materials such as syllabi, reading lists, homework solutions, lecture notes, Powerpoint presentations, etc., may be included without restriction.
o Digital copies of student papers or other projects may be included if the course syllabus
o has clarified this requirement for the students. Student papers should not be placed on faculty Web pages unrelated to class activity without permission.
o Links to Web pages may be included without restriction.
o Links to journal articles included in the Olin Library’s e-journal or aggregated full-text databases may be included without restriction.
o Digital copies of copyrighted materials to be included on faculty course pages may be added by the library staff or faculty members, who should use good judgment in applying fair use criteria. The following considerations should be taken into account:
< Either the entire course page or the copyrighted document itself must be password-protected. Only students enrolled in the class should be given the password. In each case, the ERes software provides the copyright warning to the user.
< In most cases, the library staff or faculty will use the Docufax software to convert a copyrighted document to PDF format. Such documents can be viewed, printed, saved, or e-mailed.
< Plain text versions of articles from a full text database may be included if the licensing agreement permits it.
< Material found on Web pages is considered copyrighted even though it may never have been registered. Therefore, such material should never be copied and added to a course page without seeking permission. Otherwise, a link should be provided to the desired material.
< Reserve and faculty course pages in ERes will be accessible only by faculty name, course name, and course number.
< The library will add copyrighted materials to ERes course pages only at the request of the instructors.
< Longer works such as complete books will not normally be copied for electronic reserves/faculty pages.
< Electronic copies should be removed when they are no longer being actively used for a class. This is accomplished in ERes by archiving the page. A page containing copyrighted material should never be accessible when the course is not being offered except as a short-term expedient to assist students who are finishing up incompletes.
< No charge will be made for access to ERes by students.
< The library will follow the principles of fair use when placing materials on reserve.
The electronic copying and scanning of copyright‑protected works for library reserve service are unsettled areas of the law which may be addressed by the Supreme Court or in future revisions of the copyright law. The Drury University Library will continually monitor legal developments which may affect the fair use analysis of electronic reserve services to ensure that library services are in compliance with the letter and spirit of the United States Copyright Law.
Reviewed 08/21/08
