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Copyright

Use this guide to find information about copyright for WCC faculty.

Library Reserves Policy

The chart below are general guidelines. It is possible that exceptions may be made for excluded materials if a good "Fair Use" case can be made for using it. Reminder: Convenience of the instructor or students is not one of the four factors that tend towards Fair Use. Neither does the expense of materials and cost to the student.

Course Reserves Library Chart

Type of Materials Can it be put on Reserve? Time limit? Percentage of material limit? What governs the restrictions? Example
WCC Library books from General Collection Yes, as long as the material is assigned, not merely recommended One Semester   Source: WCC Library Policy Books from General and Oversized collections from any subject area. WCC Library policy is that no materials are bought that are intended for "permanent reserve", as that restricts circulation to a small subset of the WCC community of library users.
WCC Library AV materials or other library use only materials (Reference, periodicals) In general, No — videos, DVDs, CDs, Reference materials etc. are already limited to in library use for students and have very short loan periods, so there is no compelling need to put them on reserve. Exceptions may be made. See Library staff. N/A N/A Source: WCC Library Policy Materials included are Reference collection materials such as encyclopedias, etc; issues of magazines such as American Journal of Nursing; all videos, DVDs, and CDs. Use is already restricted to within the building and for short periods of time. Further restriction to control access and length of checkout is unnecessary.
Instructor's personal whole and entire legally obtained copies of copyrighted printed material: Books, workbooks, instructor-owned periodical issues, etc. This also applies to works purchased or owned by the Department or College. Yes - as long as they are ORIGINAL copies and not unauthorized duplications. As long as the instructor deems necessary None Source: WCC Library policy Copyright law concerns duplication. Since the instructor has either paid for or been granted the use rights to the original, licensed copy, there are no restrictions on length of time.
Duplicates of copyrighted printed material, whether photocopies or digital files. Yes, with restrictions. Same restrictions apply to regular reserves and Electronic reserves. One Semester, unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder to keep it on reserve longer OR the material is in the public domain. Brief excerpts from longer works, journal article, unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder for more material OR the material is in the public domain. Sources: Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code Circular 92 Sec 106 and 107; TEACH Act; Generally accepted restrictions for length of time and percentage of material followed by U.S. academic libraries - see University of Texas Copyright website, Copyright Considerations for Electronic Reserves, and the Association of College and Research Libraries Statement on Fair Use and Electronic Reserves. *(see below) Permitted: A photocopy of an article for a journal, a couple of chapters from a book, etc. as long as it is not the "heart of the work." Specific length determinations will be made on a case-by-case basis. Duplications may not be made of an entire journal issue, or the majority of a book, etc unless the copyright holder gives permission or the work has passed into the public domain.
Authorized, licensed copies and/or commercially bought or licensed copies of films, broadcasts, performance, audio in film, video, CD or other digital format owned by the instructor, department or college.

Regular Reserves: Yes, with some caveats concerning public performance.

Electronic Reserves: see Library staff

 As long as the instructor deems necessary for Entire work Sources: Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code Circular 92 Sec 110; See also University of Texas's copyright website regarding audio and video, Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, (also see links and information above) Since the instructor has either paid for or been granted the use rights to the original, licensed copy, there are no restrictions on length of time. However, what constitutes a public performance is regulated by Copyright Law and the very specific exemptions granted to non-profit educational institutions. The material must be directly own in instructional venues, and have restricted access. The Library and reserve room policies function to maintain these parameters.
Unauthorized, unlawful duplications of any entire copyrighted film, performance -- audio work - video, DVD, CD, streaming audio or video, computer files. Duplications of any parts of unauthorized, unlawful duplications of any entire copyrighted film, performance -- audio work - video, DVD, CD, streaming audio or video, computer files copyrighted film, performance, audio work, video, DVD, CD, streaming audio or video, computer files, etc. No N/A N/A Source: Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code Circular 92 This is illegal. These copies are pirated copies. You may not make unauthorized copies of ANY copyrighted material and place them on Reserve, whether or not the material is intended for the educational market, etc. WITHOUT PERMISSION. Consult library staff if you have questions.
Duplications of parts of copyrighted films, performances, broadcasts, audio works. Duplications must be made from a lawful, authorized original. Yes, with restrictions. One Semester, unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder to keep it on reserve longer OR the material is in the public domain. Brief excerpts from longer works, unless permission is obtained from the copyright holder for more OR the material is in the public domain. Sources: Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code Circular 92 Sec 106 and 107, TEACH Act; Generally accepted restrictions for length of time and percentage of material followed by U.S. academic libraries - see University of Texas Copyright website, ALA Copyright Considerations for Electronic Reserves, and the Association of College and Research Libraries Statement on Fair Use and Electronic Reserves. Instructors may make a duplication of a scene from a film, part of an audio piece, part of a broadcast AS LONG AS IT IS FROM A LEGALLY OBTAINED SOURCE to show for a limited time. If an instructor, the department, or the library has a legally obtained copy of the original, duplications of small portions are permissible under fair use exemptions. However, what constitutes "the heart of the work" is sometimes harder to determine than with print materials - similarly, what constitutes "a part" can be harder to determine in the case of songs that are parts of compilations, etc. In general, if an entity can be sold or performed alone, the entire entity cannot be duplicated without permission. This is somewhat different from the cases of some print materials (such as journal articles) and duplication.
Unauthorized duplications of news broadcasts, presidential debates, etc. Yes, with restrictions. 10 days after date of broadcast; may hold (but not show) duplication for a further 35 days in order to decide whether to obtain permission or not.   Sources: Kastenmeier Guidelines provided by the University of California Berkeley Library, Copyright law and Fair Use Exemptions. Presidential debates, news broadcasts on public television, etc.

 

Library Reserves

The WCC Reserve policies were developed in consultation with WCC College Counsel, by consulting other Reserve documentation from other college and university Libraries, documentation from the American Library Association, and by examining the Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code, the TEACH Act, and other legislation pertaining to copyright, fair use and library exemptions. Copyright law and fair use exemptions were designed to be flexible, and fair use exemptions are decided on a case-by-case basis in the courts. "However, there are no court decisions that relate to course reserves... Therefore, Librarians have developed various models for handling reserves and copyright." (Russell, Carrie, Complete Copyright : an everyday guide for librarians, 2004, Office for Information Technology Policy, American Library Association, p.77).

Tips for Reserves

Tips for effective and legal use of WCC Reserve services:

  1. Almost all Reserve restrictions based on Copyright law and Fair Use exemptions apply to duplications of copyrighted work, whether the duplication is "hard copy" (photocopies) or digital copies supplied via ERES. Familiarize yourself with Copyright laws and guidelines by checking the WCC Copyright Website first if you routinely intend to use duplications in the Reserve Room, or intend to use ERes (electronic reserves).
  2. Use one of the Fair Use checklists or worksheets to help determine where your use of a reproduction falls under the Fair Use exemption continuum. Cornell University Fair Use Checklist (PDF).
  3. All duplications must have complete citation/publication information with the material. We must know exactly where the journal article, chapter of a book, snippet of video, etc. came from.
  4. If you need to re-use the same reproductions over and over again each semester, then you need to either get permission from the copyright holder for reproduction/use, or consider putting original volumes on hard copy reserve in their entirety. If you are considering purchasing materials for which you need multiple copies, consider negotiating for permission/licensing to make a certain number of copies when you purchase the originals.
  5. Questions about Reserve? Contact Cate Karain at (734) 477-8709 for more information.