© 2012 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
To protect the university, the Libraries must make every effort to verify copyright compliance. This includes obtaining an authorized signature on reserve forms and checking the submitted materials for multiple articles or chapters from the same work. For further information on copyright, visit our Reserve copyright guidelines page.
We must have a signature on reserve request forms signifying your compliance with copyright law.
The guidelines described below apply to all University Libraries' Reserve systems and are in compliance with US Code, Title 17. Material submitted which violates any of these regulations will NOT knowingly be made available by the library. Instructors will be notified upon discovery of copyright violations and will result in delayed access to class materials through University Libraries. Instructors should not place materials on Reserve unless the instructor, the library, or another unit of the university possesses a lawfully obtained copy. The total amount of material on Reserve for a class should be a small proportion of the total assigned reading for that class when invoking fair use. Materials are available only to the VPI & SU community and all are expected to adhere to these copyright and fair use guidelines.
A balance must exist between the rights of the producers and distributors of the works which we collect and disseminate and the privileges of ourselves and our patrons who benefit from their display. We understand that if the owners of audiovisual works are denied their legal right to actual and potential revenues that may be derived from their works, the net effect will be a decline in the production of audiovisual materials, and we consider infractions of copyright law to be equivalent to acts of theft.
Title 17 of the U. S. Code addresses copyright issues, including Fair Use for Educational Purposes.
By submitting a Reserve Request, users of the University Libraries' Reserve System agree that:
The faculty member responsible for the course must sign the Reserve request form, which says all materials placed on reserve for the course comply with the copyright guidelines. A signature is required before items can be processed.
Graduate/teaching assistants must have their faculty advisor for the course sign the Reserve request form before it can be processed. If you are not listed as a professor, assistant professor, associate professor, or instructor in the undergraduate or graduate catalog, you must have the faculty advisor's signature.
Only one chapter from a textbook may be placed on reserve at a time. Copies of multiple chapters on reserve concurrently is a violation of copyright law. If a professor submits multiple chapters of a text, the professor will be contacted via e-mail or phone. If Reserve does not hear from the instructor within 5 days, the materials in violation of copyright will be returned by campus mail.
Only one article from the same journal/magazine may be placed on reserve at a time, copies of multiple articles from the same journal placed on reserve concurrently is a violation of copyright law. If a professor submits multiple articles in violation, the professor will be contacted via e-mail or phone. If Reserve does not hear from the instructor within 5 days, the materials in violation of copyright will be returned by campus mail.
Multiple copies of the same article or chapter is permissable. Professors may place one (1) copy of an item on reserve for every 20 students. (EX: 100 students= 5 copies). There is a maximum limit of 9 copies allowed.
There are 5 loan periods available; 2 hour library use only, 2 hour (may leave the library), 2 day loan (may leave the library), 7 day loan (may leave the library), and 3 hour Media library use only. If no loan period is selected on the Reserve request form, the default loan period will be 2 hour library use only.
© 2012 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University