Copyright, Fair Use, & Plagiarism for Faculty

The Copyright Act provides a set of rules regarding library reproductions. In general, a library or archive open to the public (or whose collection is available to specialized researchers other than those affiliated with the institution) will not be liable for copyright infringement based upon a library patron's unsupervised use of reproducing equipment located on its premises, provided that the copying equipment displays a notice that the making of a copy may be subject to the copyright law. The notice must appear in a specific form, as shown below. This notice should be displayed next to all college photocopiers and printers:

NOTICE WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. 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. 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.

The provisions for Library copying are found in Section 108 of the Copyright Law.

There can be no commercial advantage resulting from making a copy and the copy must bear the notice that the material copied has been copyrighted.

It is possible to reproduce a copy of a published work for the purpose of replacement of material that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen if it has been owned by the Library and after a reasonable effort has been made to obtain a duplicate copy if a replacement copy cannot be obtained at a fair price.

There shall be no liability for copyright infringement upon the institution or its employees for unsupervised use of various types of reproductive equipment located on its premises, provided that such equipment displays a notice that making such a copy shall be subject to copyright law. The person making the copy for their use has the liability for determining whether or not use of the copy fits the criteria for Fair Use as described in Section 107 of the Copyright Law.