Course Reserves: Copyright Guidelines

U.S. copyright laws (17 U.S.C.) prohibit the unauthorized reproduction and/or distribution, in part or in whole, of any copyrighted publication. However, professional educators are granted a little flexibility in this area due to the "Fair Use" agreement (H.R. Rep. No. 94-1733, 94th Cong., 2d Sess., September 29, 1976).

All items placed on reserve at the USC Upstate Library must be either owned by the university or the instructor.

Most copyright issues arise with regard to e-reserves. Use the questions below to quickly identify whether or not your requested item(s) complies with copyright rules and may be placed on reserve or e-reserve.

•  Is the original source either owned by USC Upstate or your personal property?
•  Is the selection a small amount of the whole publication? A general rule of thumb is to use no more than 10% of a book with no chapters or fewer than 10 chapters, or for a book of 10 or more chapters, 1 chapter. If you are using pages from several different chapters, look at the average number of pages per chapter in the book and limit your excerpts to no more pages than that average.
•  Is the selection intended for use in only one course? (Use in multiple sections of one course is permissible.)
•  Is this the first time this particular selection has ever been requested for e-reserve?
•  Is the selection from a non-consumable source? (Consumables are workbooks, standardized tests, answer sheets, etc. and are specifically prohibited from unauthorized reproduction.)

If you answered Yes to all the questions above, then your selection is probably in accordance with U.S. copyright laws and Fair Use agreement guidelines and therefore eligible for e-reserve. (If you answered No to any of the questions above, please contact our Course Reserve Specialist for more information on U.S. copyright laws, the Fair Use agreement, and e-reserve eligibility.)

If the item an instructor wants to use does not comply with the copyright restrictions and is rejected for placement on reserve without clearance from the publisher, the responsibility of obtaining clearance is the responsibility of the instructor, not the library or its staff. Proof of copyright clearance, once obtained, must be provided to the Course Reserve Specialist before the item may be processed for course reserves.

A more in depth Fair Use checklist has been developed by the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents and can be very useful for determining the strength of a Fair Use claim. Find that checklist here.