The Copyright Law and Special Collections

Special Collections Copyright Policies

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 a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the user may be liable for copyright infringement.

The user is responsible for ensuring that all photoduplication requests comply with copyright law. The guidelines which follow are intended to assist Special Collections staff and patrons in observing copyright requirements.

When the condition of the material permits, Special Collections personnel will copy materials that are unrestricted and will copy copyrighted materials under the University of Missouri's fair use policy, provided that the photocopy or reproduction is not used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.

The Libraries reserve the right to refuse to accept a copying order if in their judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve a violation of copyright law.

The following policies are taken from the University of Missouri's Collected Rules and Regulations 100.010: Use of Copyrighted Materials in Teaching and Research.

Copying which is Unrestricted

There are three categories of material which may be freely copied:

Published works whose copyrights have expired (please see Copyright Term and the Public Domain for a succinct explanation).
Some U.S. Government, some state and some foreign government publications.
Those items that carry a statement permitting use as long as the source is cited and that the use is for educational, non-profit purposes.

Copying which is Permitted Under the Fair Use Doctrine

According to Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, when considering whether or not the reproduction of copyrighted materials would be considered fair use, four factors must be considered:

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 (e.g., fiction vs. non-fiction, published vs. non-published, etc.);
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

Special Collections follows the “Guidelines for Classroom Copying” as set forth in Executive Guideline No. 23, 11-1-84, Revised 2-15-05. This means that staff may make the following types of copies of copyrighted material for patrons' personal, non-commercial use:

One chapter from a book
One article from a journal, periodical, or newspaper
One short story, poem or essay from a collection
One chart, graph, diagram or picture in any work
One page less than half of any work whose text is not divided into chapters
One poem or excerpt from a poem of less than 250 words
An excerpt comprising not more than two of the published pages of a special work (works combining text and images such as children's books, cartoons, comics, and artist's books) and containing not more than 10% of the words found in the text thereof

Copying shall not:

Substitute for the purchase of books, publishers’ reprints or periodicals;
Be directed by higher authority
Be repeated with respect to the same item by the same patron from term to term.
No charge shall be made to the patron beyond the actual cost of photocopying.

Please note that Special Collections staff will make only one set of photocopies. Faculty members who desire multiple copies for classroom use must make their own additional copies in Copy Services.

Copying for which permission should be obtained

Special Collections staff will not make the following types of copies unless the patron has written authorization from the copyright holder.

Unpublished works such as theses, dissertations, term papers, class notes, and exams may be protected by copyright. Please see Copyright Term and the Public Domain for more information.

Repetitive Copying (i.e. several different sections of the same copyrighted book by the same patron within one year)

Copying for Profit

Consumable Works (workbooks, exercises, standard tests)

Creation of Anthologies or Texts