Copyright & Course Reserves //

Faculty must comply with the educational fair use guidelines of copyright law as it applies to library course reserves. Specifically this includes:

• A limit of 1 photocopy per 15 students in a class.


• The University Libraries cannot accept off-air taped videos, photocopies of entire books, materials belonging to other libraries or any other materials in violation of copyright law.

Factors to consider for educational fair use 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.

For more information on copyright:

• Stanford University's Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center has an excellent set of Web pages on copyright and fair use.


• Visit the U.S. Copyright Office Home page at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright.


• See our subject guide to copyright.


• Circular 21: Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians is available online as a PDF from the U.S. Copyright Office.