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University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus
Health Sciences Library

Library Copyright Policy: Health Sciences Library

revised January 2006

Copyright Statement

The Health Sciences Library at the University of Colorado at Denver requires that library personnel adhere to the provisions of the Copyright Law of the United States and relevant copyright guidelines. Library personnel strive to assist and educate Health Sciences Center faculty, staff, and students in the appropriate and legal use of library resources.

Purpose of the Copyright Policy

This policy has been adopted to clarify the responsibilities of Health Sciences Library staff related to the reproduction and use of library materials in accordance with copyright law.

The Health Sciences Library makes every effort to provide employees with information needed to perform their duties in compliance with the law:

Fair Use

The Health Sciences Library supports the constitutional principle that the fundamental purpose of copyright is to “promote the progress of science and the useful arts” (United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8) through the dissemination of information in a manner consistent with current copyright law. The doctrine of fair use, found in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, addresses the needs of scholars and students for access to information by mitigating the rights of copyright ownership. The application of fair use provides a balance between the rights of copyright holders and the needs of society for the dissemination of information.

Health Sciences Library’s policies and procedures are designed to provide Health Sciences Center personnel with access to information resources that support the educational, research, clinical, and community service missions of the campus through the lawful exercise of fair use rights. Section 107 includes four criteria that must be considered to determine if a particular use, without having prior permission from the copyright holder, is a fair (and allowable) use. Employees can learn more about fair use from the Crash Course in Copyright (Office of General Counsel, University of Texas System).

Library Copying

Section 108 of the Copyright Act of 1976 sets forth circumstances under which libraries are permitted to make photocopies and other reproductions of copyrighted materials. For example, to comply with Section 108, Health Sciences Library’s collections are available onsite to unaffiliated scholars and the general public for research and educational purposes. Most of the Library’s resources are also available to users of other libraries via interlibrary loan. The manner in which the Health Sciences Library complies with other requirements in Section 108 is outlined in the following sections:

Unsupervised Copying by Library Users

According to Section 108f, liability for copyright infringement may not be imposed on a library or its employees for unsupervised use of reproducing equipment located on its premises, provided that the equipment displays a notice that making copies may be subject to copyright law:

"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 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." (Section 108f)

The Health Sciences Library displays the following notice on or near unsupervised copying machines in the Library:

NOTICE: The U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement.

The Health Sciences Library displays the following notice in areas of the Library where unsupervised audiovisual and computer equipment is available for public use:

NOTICE: The U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and Library licensing agreements govern the making of reproductions of audiovisual material, microcomputer software, and proprietary databases. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement.

Making Copies for Library Users

The Health Sciences Library provides a cost-recovery, fee-based, copy service available to anyone in Colorado. Library staff reserves the right to refuse any copying request if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the request would involve violation of copyright law. Library staff will consider users’ requests for photocopies to be permissible as fair use under the following conditions outlined in Section 108:

Making Copies for Library Collections

Health Sciences Library staff do not normally add copies of items (rather than acquiring the originals) to its collections. If staff make a reasonable effort* to obtain a copy of an item in acceptable condition at a fair price but are not successful and EITHER written permission to copy has been obtained from the copyright owner OR the item is in the public domain, a copy may be added to Library collections.

  1. Items in the Public Domain: A work in the public domain is a creative work that is not protected by copyright and which may be freely used. For example, a work may be in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired (details) or because it is a work of the US Government.
  2. Replacement Copying for Missing or Damaged Works:
    • Minor parts: When minor parts of an item are missing or damaged, a copy may be substituted for the missing or damaged part without obtaining permission from the copyright holder or checking for availability.
    • An entire work: When an entire item is damaged, missing, or stolen and staff are unable to obtain an acceptable replacement at a fair price after making a reasonable effort*, one copy may be made for replacement purposes without obtaining permission from the copyright holder (Section 106). Section 108h extends this right to a musical work, pictorial or graphic work, motion picture, or other audiovisual work. One copy may be made for each copy that is missing or damaged.
  3. Replacement Copying for Preservation: Libraries and archives are permitted to copy published or unpublished works for the purpose of preservation (Section 108). For published works not in the public domain, staff will seek a suitable replacement at a fair price and a copy will be made only if an acceptable replacement is unavailable. A notice of copyright is included on all reproductions made for preservation purposes.
  4. Copying Audiovisual Materials and Computer Software: When audiovisuals and software are damaged, missing, or lost and out of print or no longer available at a fair price, one copy of each item may be made for replacement purposes. Copying audiovisual materials due to a change of format is allowed when the conditions for replacement copying or preservation copying are met or when written permission to change the format is granted by the copyright holder. Because items used with a machine interface are susceptible to damage, copyright law allows copying to ensure usable items. The Health Sciences Library may make a back-up copy of purchased software. In these cases, the original will be used as the archive copy and the back-up copy will become the service copy and may circulate. If it becomes necessary to replace the circulating copy, a copy may be made from the original only if a replacement is not available from commercial sources at a fair price. A notice stating that unlawful copying of software is prohibited is posted near all public access computers available for patron use. A notice stating that unlawful copying of software is prohibited is also placed on the software itself (or on the container) for software loaned by the library. Use rights allowed by copyright law may be restricted by license agreements and use rights not granted by copyright law may be granted by license arrangements. Valid contractual arrangements/license agreements entered into by the Health Sciences Library and its agents must be honored to avoid liability.

Documentation of relevant efforts, including correspondence, is maintained for five years in the Administration Office of the Health Sciences Library. 

Course Reserves

Course Reserve materials are covered in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 which specifies that certain requirements be met. To comply with those requirements, the Health Sciences Library adheres to the following guidelines:

In-Library Reserves

Library staff will place single and/or multiple copies of copyrighted materials provided by Health Sciences Center instructional faculty on reserve in the library under the following conditions:

  1. Faculty who place copies on reserve must affirm that all copies have been made in compliance with the requirements in this policy.
  2. Print versions of any copyrighted materials to be copied for in-library reserves must have been lawfully acquired through purchase, lease, or interlibrary loan by the Health Sciences Library, a Health Sciences Center department/school, or Health Sciences Center faculty/instructional staff member.
  3. Photocopied items may be used for in-library reserves only once for the duration of one academic session. Subsequent uses require that faculty obtain prior written permission from, or pay royalties to, the copyright holder.
  4. No more than one copy may be distributed for each student.
  5. Library staff may place photocopies of copyrighted materials on in-library reserve without copyright permission/payment of royalties so long as they do not exceed the guidelines listed below:
    1. A small part of a work is used, such as:
    2. Single article from a journal issue (one academic session only);
    3. Single chapter from a book (one academic session only);
    4. Several charts, graphs, or illustrations from a book (one academic session only);
    5. A small number of the materials required for the course;
  6. Exams and lecture notes provided by the faculty requestor;
  7. US government publications and other items in the public domain.
  8. Each copy must include a copyright notice on the first page of the portion of material photocopied.
  9. An appropriate copyright notice will be displayed at locations where materials are accepted for placement on reserve.
  10. Students will not be charged to access reserve materials. The charge for copies made by students on library equipment will be the same as for all other library copying, printing, and scanning.
  11. At the end of the period of reserve use, staff will return all copies of materials to instructional faculty with a reminder regarding restrictions concerning the reuse of photocopied material for course reserves.

See the library’s Reserves web page for more information about course reserves at the Health Sciences Library.

Electronic Reserves

The Health Sciences Library’s policy and procedures for electronic reserves are based on Fair Use Guidelines for Electronic Reserve Systems (March 1996) developed by the Conference on Fair Use (CONFU). Library staff will place materials requested by Health Sciences Center instructional faculty on electronic reserve under the following conditions:

  1. The Health Sciences Library or the Health Sciences Center holds a current license for access to digital versions of the copyrighted materials. When persistent URLs are available, the citation and link to the electronic version of the material may be added to the electronic reserve system, providing direct access to the requested material.
  2. Print versions of any copyrighted material to be scanned for electronic reserves must have been lawfully acquired through purchase, lease, or interlibrary loan, by the Health Sciences Library, a Health Sciences Center department/school, or Health Sciences Center faculty/instructional staff member.
  3. Students will not be charged to access electronic reserve materials. The charge for copies made by students on library equipment will be the same as for all other library copying, printing, and scanning.
  4. Materials on electronic reserve will be searchable in the online catalog only by faculty name, course name, and/or course number. User authentication measures may be used to limit access to students enrolled in the course for which the material is placed on reserve.
  5. A copyright notice will be displayed on each copyrighted document in the electronic reserve system.
  6. Library staff may scan copyrighted materials for placement on electronic reserve without obtaining copyright permission so long as they do not exceed the guidelines listed below:
    1. A small part of a work is used, such as:
    2. Single article from a journal issue (one academic session only);
    3. Single chapter from a book (one academic session only);
    4. Several charts, graphs, or illustrations from a book (one academic session only);
    5. A small number of the materials required for the course;
  7. Exams and lecture notes provided by the faculty requestor;
  8. US government publications and other items in the public domain.
  9. At the end of each academic session, copyrighted material will be removed from the electronic reserve system unless the faculty requestor provides written permission from the copyright holder to retain the digitized version of the material.

 

Obtaining Permissions/Paying Royalties for Reserve Items

The Health Sciences Library is unable to pay copyright royalties or request permissions from copyright holders for faculty who wish to place copyrighted materials on reserve. Library staff may refer faculty to the Copyright Clearance Center to pay royalties to use copyright materials for reserve. Faculty who prefer to request permission directly from copyright holders may be referred to a web site provided by the Copyright Management Center, Indiana University-Purdue Indiana that can help with the permissions process. For more information and resources related to obtaining permissions, faculty can be referred to the library’s Copyright Information and the CU System Copyright web pages.

An alternative for faculty to placing items on in-library or electronic reserve is to purchase course packs through the HSC Book Store. Book Store staff will reproduce copyrighted materials and pay copyright royalties on behalf of HSC faculty for a fee. Faculty members who make the same course reserve reading assignments repeatedly are encouraged to utilize this service. For assistance obtaining permissions and photocopying materials for course packs, contact Kathy Duran, Director, HSC Bookstore, at Kathy.Duran@uchsc.edu.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

The Health Sciences Library follows Interlibrary Loan (ILL) guidelines formulated by the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU guidelines). Although these guidelines are recommendations and may not carry the force of law, the majority of libraries in the US abide by them.

ILL Borrowing

The CONTU guidelines apply to both borrowing and lending functions, but the responsibility for compliance falls primarily on the borrowing library. The following guidelines apply when ILL requests are processed by for library users:

  1. A copyright notice is posted at Library locations where ILL borrowing requests are accepted. The notice is also displayed on print and online ILL borrowing request forms.
  2. ILL staff indicates on each borrowing request sent to another library whether the request conforms to the CONTU Copyright Guidelines (CCG) or Copyright Law (CCL).
    1. CCG: Used when the Health Sciences Library does not currently subscribe to a journal and the article requested was published within five years of the date of request.
    2. CCL: Used for items published earlier than five years from the date of the request and for items for which staff believe, because of the circumstances of the request, that the request is a "fair use".
  3. ILL staff maintains records of all filled ILL requests for three years beyond the calendar year in which the request was filled.
  4. At the end of each calendar year, Collection Development staff review a list of journals from which more than five photocopy requests each were filled, to determine if subscriptions to any of the journals requested will be purchased.
  5. The CONTU Guidelines allow libraries to borrow up to five articles published within the last five years per journal without paying copyright royalties. There are no restrictions on obtaining articles more than five years old. In cases in which the amount of borrowing exceeds the guidelines and a subscription is not purchased, ILL staff will pay copyright fees via the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) with these exceptions:
  6. US government documents and other items in the public domain;
  7. Documents for which the copyright fee has already been paid, for example, articles purchased from a commercial document supplier;
  8. Items for which the Library purchases a current subscription but the item requested is late, claimed, at the bindery, missing, lost, or damaged;
  9. Book chapters;
  10. Entire books or audiovisuals (loans).

ILL Lending

The following guidelines apply when Health Sciences Library staff process ILL requests from other libraries:

  1. ILL staff will confirm that each request received from another library indicates copyright compliance (CCG or CCL). If a request does not indicate copyright compliance, it will be rejected and the reason for rejection will be provided to the requesting library.
  2. ILL staff will include a notice of copyright on each reproduced item sent to other libraries. This requirement can be met by either including a copy of the actual notice of copyright that appears on the item being reproduced or by stamping each item with the following notice: “This material is subject to the United States copyright law. Further reproduction in violation of that law is prohibited”.

Digital Resources and License Agreements

In many instances, Health Sciences Library licenses access to digital resources rather than purchasing resources that reside in the physical collections. When a product leased or purchased by the Health Sciences Library is accompanied by a license agreement (particularly when signatures are required), the library is acquiring only the rights to "use" the product for a specified amount of time, as set forth in the terms of the license agreement. Health Sciences Library staff work closely with publishers and vendors to negotiate acceptable license terms that allow maximum use of information products by Health Sciences Center personnel. If a license agreement cannot be mutually agreed upon and staff cannot abide by the terms required by the publisher or vendor, the product will not be licensed.

The Head of Collection Development and Serials Librarian are responsible for obtaining and initially reviewing licenses for Library resources. The Library Director is responsible for final review of and signing license agreements. License agreements that require significant legal expertise may be referred to the Contracts Division of the CU Procurement Service Center for review and signature. Final copies of all signed license agreements will be maintained in the Administration office.

* Definition of "Reasonable Effort"

Section 108 allows libraries to reproduce published and unpublished materials under certain conditions provided that a "reasonable effort" is made to determine that the item cannot be obtained at a fair price. A reasonable effort may vary according to the circumstances of each particular situation. Library staff uses commonly-known trade resources (publisher websites, publication lists, directories, etc.) to search for copies in acceptable condition at a fair price. If unsuccessful, staff will request contact information for a copyright holder from the appropriate Copyright Office or publisher. If contact information can be found, permission will be requested from the copyright holder to make the desired copies. At least one attempt will be made to obtain permission.

More Information about Copyright

For questions about the Health Sciences Library’s Copyright Policy, contact Catherine Reiter, Head of Collection Development, at 303-315-6444 or Catherine.Reiter@uchsc.edu.

For legal questions about fair use in an educational environment, contact Kristin Diamond, Assistant University Counsel, University of Colorado System, Kristin.Diamond@cu.edu.

To learn more about copyright law and fair use, visit the Health Sciences Library’s Copyright Information web pages and/or the University of Colorado System’s Copyright Information web pages.

Permission to copy this policy for non-commercial educational uses is freely granted.