Note: This is just an excerpt from The Copyright Guidelines for CUNY Libraries. Click here to get the full document (Adobe Reader is required to view this document).

 

III. Course Reserves
(Last revised 5/19/03)


Introduction

The collections of the City University of New York libraries are purchased for the nonprofit educational use of students, faculty and staff. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of copies. Libraries frequently pay a premium institutional subscription price per journal title, which is many times the individual subscription price, for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users. The purpose of course reserves is to facilitate access to materials in support of teaching, learning, and research.

Faculty may submit materials for course reserves that conform to the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act. See Part II - Fair Use and the Library Exemption. Each CUNY library has the right not to accept materials if it judges that the nature, scope or extent of the material is beyond the reasonable limits of fair use, and will not knowingly accept materials that violate copyright law. Whether or not a use of materials for course reserves is a fair use depends on a variety of factors, including the nature of the materials placed on reserve and the length of time that materials are kept on reserve.

Where materials do not fall within fair use, they may still be placed on reserve provided permission is being sought from the copyright holder. If the faculty member has not already secured permission, the CUNY libraries will work to a reasonable extent to obtain copyright permission, insure that any reasonable publishers’ fees are paid and post appropriate copyright notices. Seeking and obtaining copyright permissions may entail significant costs in fees and staff time. These costs may be covered by the faculty, library and/or or other academic departments. Each CUNY library has the right to limit the number of items on reserve for a given course based on copyright constraints, staff resources, royalty costs, etc.

The electronic copying and scanning of copyright-protected works for course reserves are unsettled areas of the law which may be addressed by the Supreme Court or in future revisions of the copyright law. The libraries of City University of New York will monitor legal developments - which may affect the fair use analysis of electronic course reserves - to ensure that the library services are in compliance with the letter and spirit of U.S. copyright law. The CUNY libraries will monitor the evolving digital copyright policies and guidelines and will modify this policy as necessary.

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General Procedures

1. Copyrighted materials placed on course reserves are for non-commercial educational use only. Access to electronic course reserves must be restricted to students enrolled in the course through passwords or other authentication methods.
2. All reserve copies must include any copyright notice (e.g., copyright © 2003 West Publishing) from the original, and appropriate citations or attributions to the source.
3. If there is no notice on the work, the library must add a legend stating that the work may be protected by copyright (e.g., “NOTICE: This material may be protected by copyright; further reproduction and distribution in violation of U.S. copyright law is prohibited.”).
4. Electronic course reserves must include the copyright notice or legend at the course level. A more strongly worded warning may be appropriate:
 

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

These materials are made available at this site for the education purposes of students enrolled in this class at XYZ College. This material [is protected by copyright: list notice] [may be protected by copyright]; further reproduction and distribution in violation of U.S. copyright law is prohibited.

 

 

 
5. Materials found not in compliance with copyright law, or for which copyright permission has been denied, will be removed from course reserves and the instructor will be notified.
6. All materials - including a chart, map, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, newspaper, CD, DVD or web site - must be submitted with full citation information, which is needed in obtaining copyright permission. (See Part XII - Citation Guidelines).
7. Where a faculty member has already received copyright clearance, evidence of the permission must be submitted.
8. Course reserves should not include any material unless the instructor, the library or another unit of the college possesses a lawfully obtained copy.
9. There will be no charge for viewing reserve materials, although printing charges may apply.
10. See also Part VIII - Multimedia.

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Materials that DO NOT require copyright clearance

  • Copyrighted articles available through electronic library subscription packages such as EBSCO Academic Search Premier or electronic journal subscriptions, when included in electronic course reserves as links to the articles on the vendor’s server.
  • Paper copies of material available through electronic library subscriptions, in accordance with licensing agreements.
  • Copyrighted material on the Internet, such as organizational or institutional documents, full-length videos, CDs, DVDs and other resources, if included in electronic course reserves as links to the original sites.
  • Public domain material, such as most government documents and material published before 1923. (See chart that describes when published and unpublished works go into the public domain).
  • For physical course reserves, textual works (e.g., monographs, collected works, anthologies, etc.) and non-textual works (e.g., cassettes, videos, CDs, DVDs, etc.) that a faculty member or the library legally possesses (i.e., by purchase, license, fair use, etc.).
  • A faculty member’s own exams, homework solutions, and lecture notes.
Materials that SOMETIMES require copyright clearance

Some materials may be put on reserve for a single semester without permission from the copyright holder, or, they may be put on reserve for more than one semester if permission from the copyright holder is requested. These are:

  • Single articles or chapters
  • Several charts, graphs or illustrations in a work
  • Other small parts of a work
  • In accordance with licensing requirements, items that are available through electronic library subscriptions but do not have persistent URLs.
Materials that ALWAYS require copyright clearance

These materials require permission from the copyright holder for each semester they are placed on reserve:

  • Entire long works (e.g., monographs, collected works, anthologies, and non-textual works such as cassettes, videos, CDs, DVDs etc.) from the library's collection or the instructor's personal copies when placed on electronic course reserves.
  • Multiple chapters from a single book, many articles from a single journal or anthology, or a large amount of any non-textual work.
  • In accordance with licensing agreements, items that are available through electronic library subscriptions but do not have persistent URLs.
  • A collection of works that could serve as a substitute for a published anthology of works by separate authors or a published collection of works by a single author.
  • Scanned or photocopied workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, solution manuals and test booklets and other published consumable material.
  • Student papers (students are the copyright holders of the papers or other works they produce).
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Appendix A: Sample Permission Letter for Course Reserves

Instructions

  1. Check with publisher's web site for information about securing permission.
  2. Call ahead to confirm the copyright ownership.
  3. Include your return address, telephone number, fax number, and the date at the top of the letter.
  4. Clearly state the name of your university and your position.
  5. Describe the proposed use of the copyrighted material. If necessary or appropriate, attach a copy of the article, quotations, diagrams, pictures, and other materials. Your objectives are to eliminate any ambiguities and to be sure the permission encompasses the full scope of your needs.
  6. The signature form at the end of the sample letter is appropriate when an individual grants the permission. When a company (such as a publishing house) is granting the permission, use the following signature format:

    PERMISSION GRANTED FOR THE USE REQUESTED ABOVE:

    By:    __________________

    Date: __________________

Sample Letter

[Letterhead stationery or return address]

[Date]

[Name & address of addressee]

Re: copyright permission request

[If you called first, begin your letter: This letter will confirm our recent telephone conversation.] I am [describe your position] at [name of institution] of the City University of New York. I would like your permission to [

_____ Place the cited material in our library's Electronic Course Reserves System in digital image format.* The class size is _______ . I anticipate that copies will be placed on reserve for ___ semesters.

_____ Place cited material in the library's print course Reserves collection. The class size is ________ students. I anticipate that copies will be placed on reserve for ____ semesters.

[Insert full citation to the original work - see Part X for examples]

Please indicate your approval of this permission by signing the letter where indicated below and returning it to me by fax as soon as possible. Your signing of this letter will also confirm that you are the sole owner [or your company is the sole owner] of the copyright in the above described material.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
[Your name, title and signature]

PERMISSION GRANTED FOR THE USE REQUESTED ABOVE:

____________________________________________
[Type name of addressee below signature line]

Date:

 

* Authorization is required for access. Materials are delivered free of charge. The material will be used for not-for-profit, educational purposes only. A copyright compliance statement appears prominently in the system.

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