Copyright | Library Policies
In order to help faculty, staff, and students understand the term copyright, our Course Reserves system, and the nature of Fair Use as it's defined by United States Copyright Law, the Carroll University Library is posting the following guide to Copyright Policy. Additional questions about copyright should be directed to Joe Hardenbrook, Director of Library Services, at jhardenb@carrollu.edu.
Intent of Copyright
Copyright is a constitutionally conceived property right which is designed to promote the creation and dissemination of original works of authorship. That purpose is implemented by giving a copyright owner certain exclusive rights with respect to the owner's work, subject to certain limitations, in the mutual interest of the author, the owner, and the public. These rights include exclusive rights of reproduction, preparation of derivative works, distribution, and performance.
The staff at Todd Wehr Memorial Library strongly believes that these rights are vital in maintaining a free flow of ideas in our society. For this reason, the library wishes to encourage the appropriate use of such material within the spirit and the letter of the United States Copyright Law and subsequent legislation.
According to copyright law, instructors at Carroll University are allowed to use copied materials as an extension of their teaching. To provide the means for those materials to be disseminated to all students in a course, the library will offer a Course Reserves system for temporary housing and distribution of such materials.
"Fair use" is a limited exception to the exclusive use of the copyright owner, which if exceeded, can subject the one making unauthorized copies and the university to severe penalties. Therefore, in order to provide guidance to Carroll University, its faculty and staff and to protect them from liability for copyright infringement, the Library has adopted the following policies relating to the handling of copyrighted materials.
Common Copyright Questions (Carroll Library Guide for Faculty/Staff)
Course Reserves
The policy governing the Course Reserves system is based on the provisions of "fair use" of the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Section 107 of the Copyright Act expressly permits the use of selections from copyrighted material for classroom use. Please see the Course Reserves page for more specific information.
Under the "fair use" provision of the Copyright Act of 1976, educators are permitted to distribute portions of copyrighted works for educational use for one semester without securing permission from the owner or paying royalties. Therefore, at the request of instructors, copies of articles or a chapter of a book may be placed on reserve at the Carroll University Library. Under the fair use guidelines copies of these materials may be made without requiring permission from the copyright owner.
Copyright guidelines prohibit the Library from placing on reserve the same items by the same teacher for the same class from term to term unless copyright permission is obtained. To facilitate the process of obtaining copyright, the library has purchased membership in the Copyright Clearance Center, a not-for-profit organization created at the suggestion of Congress to help organizations comply with U.S. copyright law. Through its collective licensing programs, CCC provides authorized users with a lawful means for making photocopies from its repertoire of more than 1.75 million titles. The CCC will charge a copyright fee based on the number of users for the copyrighted items. All such fees incurred by the library will be charged to the requesting department. Material that has been photocopied by the libraries for the express purpose of being put on reserve will be the property of the library and will be retained for one additional semester. If the material has not been requested during that time, it will be destroyed. If you would like copyright permission, please contact Joe Hardenbrook, Director of Library Services, at jhardenb@carrollu.edu.
The Carroll University Library provides a Course Reserves system that includes paper and electronic copies of materials. Access to the electronic system is restricted to students and faculty of Carroll University and is verified by network name and password. The library will not place materials on electronic reserves if it judges that the nature, scope or extent of the material is beyond the reasonable limits of fair use. Materials will be removed from the electronic reserve system at the conclusion of the course.
Carroll University library staff will monitor legal developments concerning fair use to ensure that the library services are in compliance with U.S. Copyright Law. The guidelines described above apply to all Carroll University Library course reserve systems and are in compliance with the US Copyright Act of 1976. Material submitted which violates any of these regulations will NOT knowingly be made available by the library. Instructors will be notified upon discovery of copyright violations and will result in delayed access to class materials through the library.