Copyright Guidelines

St. John's University Libraries' Course Reserves Copyright Policies
The following copyright guidelines apply to the libraries' reserve collection services to the extent the collection functions as an extension of classroom readings or reflects an individual student's right to copy for his/her personal scholastic use under the doctrine of fair use:

  • All use of materials placed on reserves will be at the initiative of faculty solely for the non-commercial, educational and research use of students.
  • Faculty members are responsible for securing necessary copyright permissions.
  • The amount of material in the reserve collection for a course should be reasonable in relation to the total amount of material assigned for one term of a course taking into account the nature of the course, its subject matter and level.
  • There will be no charge for access; the charge for copies made by students will be limited to the cost of printing as established by university policy.
  • The library will place a copyright notice on the cover sheet of printed reserve materials, on the first page of printed materials scanned and placed in the Electronic Reserves Collection and in the online reserve system to indicate that materials may be covered by copyright law.
  • Materials in the Electronic Reserve Collection accessible via the Electronic Reserves system will be password protected so that only members of the St. John's University community will have access to materials in the Electronic Reserves Collection.
  • Print and electronic files will be removed from the reserve system when they are no longer used for reserve services or if continued use exceeds fair use.

When to Request Copyright Permission
Copyright permission is ordinarily not required for:

  • Exams
  • Lecture notes
  • Student papers
  • Government publications
  • Works in the public domain
  • One copy of an article from a journal issue
  • One copy of a chapter from a book
  • Multiple print copies if the number of copies is reasonable in light of the number of students enrolled

Requst copyright permission when:

  • An article from a journal is needed for more than one semester.
  • Multiple articles from one journal issue are needed for reserve.
  • One chapter of a book is needed for more than one semester.
  • Multiple chapters of a book are needed for reserve.
  • The material is neither owned by the professor nor by the libraries.
  • The material is designed to be consumed in the classroom, such as standardized tests, exercises and workbooks.
  • The material is a "do-it-yourself" coursepack, i.e. when a collective work or anthology is created by photocopying a number of copyrighted articles and excerpts to be purchased and used together as the basic text for a course. (One copy of a commercially prepared coursepack does not require permission.)

How to Request Copyright Permission
Copyright permission can be requested directly from the copyright holders – authors, book publishers or journal publishers.

Book publishers' addresses, phone numbers, etc. are listed in Books in Print.

Journal publisher addresses, etc. are listed in the front of the print journal and also in the directory, Ulrich's International Periodicals.

Copyright permission may also be obtained from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) an organization that offers fee-based permissions services and a variety of services for copyright owners.

To help you with the permission process, following are some standard forms, request letters, and other useful web resources developed by other institutions and organizations:

General Copyright Information
The SJU Libraries' copyright policies for library services are in accordance with University policy and are derived from the fair use provisions of the U. S. copyright law and guidelines developed to assist libraries with compliance.

In addition to fair use, the libraries' policies conform to the provisions of:

All collections of the SJU Libraries – regardless of format – are purchased by the university for the non-profit educational use of students and faculty. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of print copies or multiple simultaneous uses of electronic text. The library frequently pays a premium institutional subscription price or licensing fee for journals and other databases for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users. 

What works are protected by copyright and for how long?
Works that are "original works of authorship" and "fixed in any tangible medium of expression" receive automatic copyright protection. Given the low standard of originality that is required and the variety of formats that can serve as the "medium of expression", copyright can apply to almost anything in the libraries' collection or on any web site.

However, copyright protection does not last forever. When the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain, and it may be copied and used without worrying about copyright infringement. The time frame for copyright protection has been changed over the years and generally depends upon the original publication date.

A handy chart shows the various terms of copyright protection.

Fair Use
If an item is protected by copyright law, The fair use provisions of the copyright law (Chapter 1, Section 107) expressly permit making multiple copies for teaching, scholarship or research. Such fair use does not require the permission of the copyright owners provided that the circumstances of the use are fair as assessed by the four factors in section 107 of the Copyright Act, the text of which follows:

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiplecopies for classroom use), scholarship or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

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

Links to further information about Fair Use have been compiled by Stanford University.

Guides and Policy Statements

Electronic Lists and Discussion Boards

Other Web Resources on Copyright