Electronic Reserves Copyright Policy

Welch Medical Library is seeking to make a wide range of materials readily available for educational use only to students enrolled in classes at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, but the materials must be provided within the context and limitations of copyright law (Copyright Act, 1976, Section 107). We believe section 107 permits the making of copies of copyrighted material for classroom use as long as the four factors determining fair use are considered: the purpose of the use; the nature of the work being copied; the amount of the work being copied and the effect of the copying on the market for the original. The library will take all steps necessary to ensure that materials placed on reserve conform to copyright law. We will continue to examine current interpretations of the law and will make policy changes as needed. First-time use of photocopied material will be considered fair use. Second and subsequent uses will require copyright permission. At the request of the course instructor, the library will obtain and pay for copyright permission.

Faculty members are asked to be aware of established deadlines and required information for copyright permission in order to decrease processing time.

Welch will place material requested by instructional faculty and staff on electronic reserve under the following conditions:

Material may be placed on electronic reserve only at the specific request of the instructor for the purpose of serving the needs of a specified educational program.
Materials placed on reserve must be directly related to the educational objectives of a specific course.
Where Welch has licenses to digital versions of copyrighted material, the citation and link to the electronic version of the material will be added to the electronic reserve system, providing direct access to the requested material.
A print version of copyrighted material to be copied or scanned will be lawfully acquired or purchased by the library, a school or department, or by a faculty or staff member. Library staff will copy or scan the material into electronic reserve system. The material will be available during the term or semester in which course is given.
There will be no charge to access electronic reserve materials.
Works which are in the public domain may be placed on electronic reserve without any limitations.
User authentication methods have been implemented to limit access to students enrolled in the course for which the material has been placed on reserve.

Guidlines for Scanning or Copying Materials for Electronic Reserves

Welch staff will scan or copy copyrighted materials for placement on electronic reserve without obtaining copyright permission so long as they do not exceed the guidelines listed below:

First time use of material by that professor for that particular course.
One journal or newspaper article.
One chapter from a book.
A prose excerpt that doesn't exceed 10% of the total work.
One chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from one book or journal issue.

Staff will refuse to scan or copy material which has previousely been used if copyright permission for reuse for that course has not been obtained.

Disposition of Digitized Reserve Materials

At the end of each semester or term, all copyrighted material in electronic reserves will be generally unavailable.

Electronic Reserves Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. 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." If electronic transmission of reserve materials is used for purposes in excess of what constitutes "fair use", that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

updated 7/1/2008