Course Reserves - Copyright Information
GENERAL INFORMATION
All use of materials placed on electronic reserves will be at the initiative of faculty solely for the non-commercial, educational usage of students during the semester in which the course is offered. Electronic Reserve materials must be password protected.
All hard copies submitted by faculty for scanning into image files will be returned when the processing is completed.
Materials should not be submitted for the electronic reserve system without permission of the copyright owner if the nature, scope, or extent of the copying exceeds these Electronic Reserve Guidelines or is outside the scope of Fair Use as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
Personal materials ( i.e ., any materials that are not obtained from the UA Library collections) that are subject to license or subscriber agreements that prohibit their use in electronic reserves should not be placed on the electronic reserves system. Faculty members are responsible for consulting the terms of their individual license or subscription agreements prior to submitting personal materials for electronic reserves.
POLICY
The University of Arizona Library Electronic Reserves Policy supports the Constitutional principle that the fundamental purpose of copyright is to advance the progress of science and the arts through the dissemination of information in a manner consistent with current copyright law. The Library plays a role in ensuring that the fundamental information rights of faculty and students are fully and lawfully exercised. The UA Library’s electronic reserves system serves to provide valuable readings and other materials that support the instructional requirements of specific courses. Essential to effective fulfillment of the Library’s foundational role in the university setting is the confident and lawful exercise of legitimate use rights as set forth in the Copyright Act of 1976, including but not limited to the Fair Use provision. (17 U.S.C. § 107).
Section 107 Fair Use
For institutions of higher education, a cardinal portion of the Copyright Act is Section 107 of the Copyright Act, the Fair Use provision. This section provides a defense against infringement applicable to the use of copyrighted works for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. For these type of uses, Section 107 sets forth several balancing factors that must be evaluated in determining whether a particular use, without prior permission of the copyright owner, is a fair and, therefore, permitted use. The legitimate and lawful application of Fair Use rights provides the necessary and Constitutionally envisioned balance between the rights of the copyright holder versus societal and educational interests in the dissemination of information.
Section 107 states:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A [which set forth the exclusive rights of copyright owners], 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.”
Fair Use provides important protection for educators and researchers against claims of copyright infringement. Unfortunately, the Fair Use factors are imprecise and require a case-by-case consideration of the particular facts presented. Additionally, Fair Use is only a defense against infringement claims, not an outright exemption. As such the burden of proof rests with the alleged infringer. Depending on the specific facts involved, or even the particular judge that considers the case, the results are unpredictable. Despite this unpredictability, the Copyright Act shields employees of nonprofit educational institutions, libraries or archives against damages for infringement, provided that they had reasonable grounds for believing that the use of the copyrighted work at issue was Fair Use under Section 107. (See 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2)). For that reason, it is important to be familiar with and apply the Fair Use criteria.
University Collections and Electronic Reserves
All collections of the UA Library -- regardless of physical format -- are purchased by the university for the nonprofit educational use of students and faculty. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of copies. The Library frequently pays a premium institutional subscription price for journals, which is many times the individual subscription price, for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users.
Electronic Reserves is an extension of traditional library services and will be provided in a manner that respects Fair Use rights, the rights of copyright holders, and current copyright law. The electronic copying and scanning of copyright protected works for library reserves services and distance learning are unsettled areas of the law which may be addressed by courts and/or legislation. The University of Arizona Library will continually monitor legal developments and other guidelines that may affect the Fair Use analysis of Electronic Reserves services to ensure that library services are in compliance with the letter and spirit of the U.S. copyright law. For the University’s guidelines pertaining to Electronic Reserves, see Copyright Guidelines for Electronic Reserves.
For additional information on this topic see:
U.S. Copyright Office Webpage http://www.copyright.gov/
Association of Research Libraries' working statement on Fair Use in Electronic Age http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/fairuse.html
Music Library Association Statement on the Digital Transmission of Electronic Reserves
http://www.lib.jmu.edu/org/mla/Guidelines/Accepted%20Guidelines/Digital%20Reserves.asp
University of Arizona's Office of the General Counsel http://ogc.arizona.edu
GUIDELINES
In contrast to the statutory Fair Use criteria, the legislative history of Section 107 provides measurable standards for evaluating the Fair Use of print materials for classroom use. The Classroom Copying Guidelines were agreed to by a committee of copyright owners, libraries and non-profit educational institutions. They do not have the force of law, although they have considerable persuasive effect. Although they provide for more predictability than the Section 107 factors, the Classroom Copying Guidelines do not define the full measure of Fair Use. There may be instances in which copying that does not fall within those Guidelines may nonetheless be permitted under the statutory criteria of Fair Use. (See 17 U.S.C. § 107, Legislative History, “The Agreement on Guidelines for Classroom Copying in Not-For-Profit Educational Institutions with Respect to Books and Periodicals.”)
The UA Library’s Electronic Reserves Guidelines are adapted from the Classroom Copying Guidelines and the Library’s policies for traditional Reserves. The University’s Electronic Reserves Guidelines attempt to provide users with a Fair Use litmus test for the quick and efficient determination of acceptable uses of copyright material for course-related electronic reserves. Depending on the circumstances, however, a full Fair Use review may reasonably justify other or more extensive uses. Any uses that fall outside the scope of the Library’s Electronic Reserves Guidelines should be submitted for consideration by the UA Library’s Copyright Librarians. Materials will not be approved for the Electronic Reserves system if judged by the Copyright Librarians to be outside the reasonable limits of Fair Use.
Book selections
Complete books will not be copied for electronic reserves. In general, no more than one chapter or 10% of a book, regardless of print status, may be placed on electronic reserves. If more of the book is needed, consider placing the book on Traditional Reserves.
Articles
The number of journal, magazine, or newspaper articles that may be used for each course should be reasonable in relation to the total amount of material assigned for one term of a course, and taking into account the nature of the course, its subject matter and level.
Consumables
Materials such as law school case studies, commercial workbooks, exercise sheets, standardized test booklets, etc., that are intended primarily for classroom use are not approved for electronic reserves without permission of the copyright owner.
Audio selections
Any commercially available or an individual’s lawfully created CD may be processed for Audio Reserves. The selections will be processed in a streaming format. This will help customers with slower internet connections listen to a selection with less interruption, while at the same time prevent copying and saving of individual files.
Other course-related material
Websites, exams, or lecture notes may also be linked to your course listing within the electronic reserves system.
Class Notes/Course Packs
Class Notes packets prepared by the UA Fast Copy service or other commercial vendors may not be placed on electronic reserves. Fast Copy pays permission fees in order to create Class Notes packets, and the agreements they sign only cover the production of Class Notes.
Charges
There will be no charge for access; the charge for the use of the library's printers by students will be limited to the nominal cost of the prints.
Copyright Notice
The faculty must provide the appropriate copyright information for the reserve materials. A copyright notice will appear on screen within the Library electronic reserve system.
Restricted Access
Reserve materials for each course must be protected by password access. Faculty will be responsible for assigning each course its own unique password, and for supplying this unique password to students . Only registered students in that course will be given the password by their instructor(s). Students will have access to electronic reserve materials only for the duration of the course. At the end of each semester, all electronic reserve materials will be electronically disabled by the Library.