Reserve Materials/Copyright Law

The reserve service at Herrick Library is necessary, and highly valued at Alfred University. The procedures and guidelines for using this service are described on an attached sheet.

Over the years these three questions about what one can put "on reserve" without risking a infringement of copyright law have come up repeatedly:

• How many chapters from one book can be copied and placed on reserve?
• How many articles from a single issue of a periodical can be copied and placed on reserve?
• Can I leave articles on reserve or put them on reserve again for a future class?

The answers are that the "fair use" section of the U.S. Copyright Law allows one article from any individual issue of a journal and one chapter or 10% whichever is less from any individual book to be put on reserve for one semester. If you request more, without the written permission of the copyright holder, you are asking us to break the law.

What you can do to avoid the problems and still help your students:

• You can recommend that a book with more than one valuable chapter be purchased for the permanent collection. That way the entire book can be placed on reserve.
• If a single issue of a journal has more than one article which you want on reserve, and the journal is one which the library owns, you may put the whole issue on reserve at the Circulation Services Desk.
• If you own the book or periodical in question, you might consider placing your personal copy on reserve.
• In the case of a particularly good issue of a periodical, you can have the school bookstore purchase that issue directly from the publisher for use as a text.
• You can obtain written permission from the copyright holder, and bring documentation of same to the library when arranging for reserve service.

How to Obtain Permission

When a use of photocopied material requires that you request permission, you should communicate complete and accurate information to the copyright owner. The American Association of Publishers suggests that the following information be included in a permission request letter in order to expedite the process:

• Title, author and/or editor, and edition of material to be duplicated.
• Exact material to be used giving total number of pages duplicated, page numbers, chapters and, if possible, a photocopy of the material.
• Number of copies to be made.
• Use to be made of duplicated materials.
• Form of distribution (classroom, newsletter, etc.).
• Whether or not the material is to be sold.
• Type of reprint (ditto, photocopy, offset, typeset).

The request should be sent, together with a self-addressed return envelope, to the permissions department of the publisher in question. If the address of the publisher does not appear at the front of the material, it may be readily obtained in a publication entitled THE LITERARY MARKETPLACE published by the R. R. Bowker Company and available at Herrick (Ref. PN 161 .L5).

The process of granting permission requires time for the publisher to check the status of the copyright and to evaluate the nature of the request. It is advisable, therefore, to allow enough lead time to obtain permission before the materials are needed. In some instances, the publisher may assess a fee for the permission. It is not inappropriate to pass this fee on to the students who receive copies of the photocopied material.

Sample Letter to Copyright Owner (Publisher) Requesting Permission to Copy

November 10, 1995

Material Permissions Department
Hypothetical Book Company
500 East Avenue
Chicago , Illinois 60601

Dear Sir or Madam:

I would like permission to copy the following for continued use in my classes in future semesters:

Title: Learning is Good, Second Edition

Copyright: Hypothetical Book Co., 1965, 1971

Author: Frank Jones

Material to be duplicated: Chapters 10, 11 and 14 (photocopy enclosed)

Number of copies: 500

Distribution: The material will be distributed to
students in my classes and they will pay only the cost of the photocopying.

Type of reprint: Photocopy

Use: The chapter will be used as supplementary teaching

materials.

I have enclosed a self-addressed envelope for your convenience in replying to this request.

Sincerely,

Faculty Member