Library Compliance Polices for Photocopying

Class Reserve Policies
Copyright Law Highlights
Examples of "Unfair" Use
Fair Use Guidelines
Multimedia Guidelines
Obtaining Permissions

Other Library
  Policies

Contact Circulation

Copyright Law

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material including sound recodings, films, software and photographs.

The law explicitly permits libraries and archives to reproduce single copies of works for replacement and preservation and to provide individuals with single copies of works for their private use under certain conditions (Section 107f). Except for a few specific classroom teaching situations (See Educational Fair Use), US Copyright Law obligates a person to seek the permission of copyright holders before making or using multiple photocopies of copyrighted works published within the last 95 years.

Library Policy

• The Libraries will make single copies of copyrighted works on behalf of individuals for their personal use in accordance with "fair use" guidelines and Section 108 of US Copyright law.
• The Libraries reserve the right in their judgment to refuse either to accept a photocopying request that would involve a violation of copyright law or to make available in Class Reserves such materials that might have been duplicated in violation of copyright law.
• Responsibility for obtaining and demonstrating that copyright holder permission either is actively being sought or has been received resides with the person or department requesting the photocopy.
• Except for royalty charges associated with the use of single photocopies in Class Reserve, royalty fees must be paid by the individual or department requesting service.

Additional Information About Using Copyrighted Works

Instructors planning to use copyrighted materials as part of a course syllabus should review the Research Libraries' Fair Use Guidelines and Class Reserve Policies.

Although the "fair use" principles of the 1976 Copyright Act also apply to electronic resources, additional guidelines specifically covering multimedia were adopted by Congress in 2000. Instructors should also be aware that use of many electronic resources (e.g. full-text journals or multimedia works), is commonly governed by licensing agreements that supplant "fair use" permitted by copyright guidelines.

Pennsylvania State University's Media & Technology Support Service website provides additional information about using copyrighted information for educational purposes.

Examples of "Unfair Use"

Typical photocopying requests that are not "fair use" and require obtaining the copyright holder's permission (and usually entailing the payment of royalties) for use inlcude:

• An employee requests a single copy of a work on behalf of a company's research office;
• A research associate wants to distribute copies of a journal article he or she wrote to persons attending an upcoming national conference, but the copyright notice at the bottom of the page shows the article to be registered in the publisher's name;
• An instructor wants to use the same photocopies of readings she used for the same course last year;
• An administrator directs a secretary to photocopy and distribute copies of the "Wall Street Journal's News In Brief" section to all departmental staff daily;
• An assistant professor requests that three photocopies of a chapter from a book be placed on Class Reserve in the library for his class;
• An associate professor wants to have photocopies of selected readings sold at the bookstore because there is no satisfactory textbook available.