Library Copyright Policy

The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyrighted materials. 17 USC Section 107 establishes the principle, commonly called "fair use," that the reproduction of copyrighted works for certain limited, educational purposes does not constitute copyright infringement.

Four factors are considered in the determination of fair use.

  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
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential mark for or value of the copyrighted work

Local guidelines are outlined in the CSULB Copyright and Fair Use Policy under the Copyright Act of 1976.

The Library policy incorporates only those policies and procedures which copyright law clearly intends libraries to perform. The University Library policy is to operate within both the spirit and letter of the law blended with the criteria for fair use.

Faculty members have the responsibility of knowing the law on copyright.

All instructor material requests must contain a complete citation.

FAIR USE: The policy governing course reserves / Reserves is based on provisions of the fair use section of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Fair use guidelines apply to materials (whether or not they are copyrighted) the first semester they are available via Reserve Services. In order to meet fair use guidelines, the material item must be one of the following:

  • 1 poem, short story, or essay from a collected work
  • 1 article from any one journal issue or newspaper
  • 1 chapter from any one book
  • a chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper
  • a short excerpt not to exceed 10% of a work without chapters or articles

COPYRIGHT:

Written permission from the copyright holder/clearinghouse is required for the following:

  • Any copyrighted material which exceeds the Fair Use guidelines
  • A copy of copyrighted material for the same professor for more than one semester
  • A copy of copyrighted material for an individual course, taught by many instructors in multiple sections

The library, in collaboration with the University Bookstore, will obtain the required written copyright permission for any copyrighted material placed on Reserve. Instructors will be notified if permission is denied.

Copyright materials available from Reserve Services must contain a notice of copyright. The copyright notice included on all paper items reads: NOTICE: This material may be protected by copyright law (title 17 U.S.Code).

eReserve copyrighted materials are protected by a course password and students must agree to accept the conditions of use prior to accessing electronic materials. The eReserves acceptance statement reads:

Please be advised that to by using electronic material in Reserves, agree to the following:

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement

All guidelines outlined for traditional reserve hold true for electronic reserve; in addition:

  • The guidelines contained in the Fair Use Guidelines for Electronic Reserve Systems, March 5, 1996 as developed by participants in the Conference on Fair Use are adhered to.
  • Copyrighted materials on reserve will be accessible only by faculty name, course name, and course number.
     

Interlibrary Loan

Mediated copying occurs when a CSULB library staff member does the copying for the requestor. This most frequently occurs in Interlibrary Services.

A copyright warning statement is posted in Interlibrary Services and on borrowing request forms, paper or electronic.

NOTICE: The copyright law of the United States (Title, 17 U.S. Code) governs the making of the photocopies or other reproductions of the copyright materials. Under certain conditions specified in the law, library and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than n private study, scholarship, or Research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproductions for purposes in excel of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order, if, in its judgment fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Each photocopy supplied via ILL to another library includes the following on the first page of the copy:

NOTICE: This material may be protected by Copyright Law, Title 17, U.S. Code.

Copyright protection covers the copying of more than printed material. All media is also covered including items on the Internet or World Wide Web. More stringent guidelines may apply to images, graphics, video, sound, etc. There are several sites which provide media specific information.


Areas of the library where CD-ROM, audiovisual, and microcomputer equipment is available for public use will display the following notice:

NOTICE: The U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and University licensing agreements govern the making of reproductions of audiovisual material, microcomputer software and proprietary databases. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement.

Reprographic machines in the library for public use are the responsibility of the University 49er Shops. Notices similar to the following will be displayed on all unsupervised copying machines in the University Library.

NOTICE: The U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement.

Please direct questions about putting items on reserve to the Library Reserve Services

Please direct questions about copyright policy to Library Administration

Adopted by Library Administration, 2008