Copyright Guidelines

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under 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." The documents contained on this site are intended for the use of faculty and registered students of Bard College only. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

Fair use Guidelines:

• No more than 10% of a book should be placed on ReserveWeb
• No more than one article from each journal issue
• All material should include the title and copyright pages or the equivalent in full citation. Articles should include volume and issue numbers

Copyright Procedures:

• Complete books will not be scanned into Electronic Reserves-- these should be place on reserve behind the Reserve Desk in the library.
• All materials are judged by standards of fair use determined by the library. Materials which do not require copyright permission and automatically fall within the boundaries of fair use include the exams, syllabi, and lecture notes of the instructor placing material on ReserveWeb, government publications, or material for which the professor or instructor owns copyright.

Materials protected by copyright rely on the fair use section of the Copyright Act of 1976. Section 107 of the Copyright Act permits the making of multiple copies for classroom use and identifies four factors in determining fair use:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. The nature of the copyrighted work;
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.