University of Notre Dame

Copyright Guidelines for Online Course Reserves

 

Documents in Notre Dame’s Online Course Reserves System are limited to students enrolled in the course for which the reserve reading is mounted and are for the non-commercial, educational use of students.  These documents are governed by section 107 of the copyright act (Title 17, United States Code).   The Following copyright warning will be displayed with each document in the Online Reserves System:

WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyrighted material.  Under the 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 electronic transmission of reserve material is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes “fair use”, that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

 Please note, we will only allow 1 chapter or 15-20% of a book, or 1 issue of a journal to be posted on our Online Reserves.  We are unable to post an entire book or an entire issue of a journal unless it is considered to be in the public domain.  Appropriate citations or attributions to their sources will be included for all electronic files.

 

Fair Use
Fair use is a doctrine in copyright law that allows limited use of copyright material without requiring permission from the rights holders for purposes of scholarship or review. Fair use must be determined when requesting a reserve item.  The following factors should be considered when determining fair use. 

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. 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 market for or value of the copyrighted work

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

For more information on the four factors please click here.

 

Permission
The Library will seek permission on behalf of faculty and pay any "reasonable" fees if payment is required by the copyright owner.  An item will not be placed on our online reserves under the following conditions:

• The rightsholder denies permission for use
• The fees are considered unreasonable 

If there are any questions that arise during the permission-seeking process, our Course Reserve staff will be in contact with the faculty member to search for comparable solutions.

The Library reserves the right to refuse to post material based on royalty fees or copyright constraints

 

Please visit Office of the General Counsel website for guidelines on reproducing copyright material.

 

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