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Course Reserves

Library Fair Use and Copyright Guidelines for Reserve Materials

FAIR USE: The policy governing course reserves is based on provisions of the fair use section of the United States Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 U.S. Code).

Fair use guidelines apply to materials (whether or not they are copyrighted) the first semester they are available via Reserve Services. In order to meet fair use guidelines, the material item must be one of the following:

  • 1 poem, short story, or essay from a collected work
  • 1 article from any one journal issue or newspaper
  • 1 chapter from any one book
  • a chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper
  • a short excerpt not to exceed 10% of a work without chapters or articles