Federal Copyright And Course Reserves

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. 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. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

UF Copyright And Course Reserves

E-Reserves staff handles course reserve materials in compliance with U.S. Copyright Law. Many copyrighted articles and other items have been purchased or licensed by the libraries in full text form and are available electronically. Faculty are encouraged to identify and assign these whenever possible. Library staff will provide links and access information to these items. For other copyrighted materials, the Copyright Coordinator will seek permission from the copyright owner to make the item available on course reserve if necessary. If permission is denied, the material will not be available on course reserve. Excessive fees charged by copyright holders may also prohibit making certain materials available. In instances such as these, the library will inform the instructor.

The University of Florida Libraries provide a course reserve service to support teaching activities at the University. This Reserve Policy Statement sets forth the guidelines that regulate reserve materials. The Libraries exercise the right to determine conditions of use and to refuse materials for reserve for legal or other reasons.

UF General Counsel's FAQ on Copyright

Copyright Clearance Center Information

I. Type and Amount of Material

Any faculty member or instructor may place library books, personal books, articles, videotapes and other media on reserve. Because of space limitations, the materials must contain readings for a class taught during the current semester. Two or more instructors may request that the same item be placed on reserve at the same time. This item will be indexed under the name and course(s) of each instructor, and the E-Reserves staff will determine the appropriate loan period.

The Libraries provide access to electronic formats such as CD-ROMs if the application can be supported on the Libraries’ computers. In general, the Libraries cannot dedicate computer equipment to a specific reserve item nor can extensive alterations be made to library computer hardware or operating systems in order to make an application operate properly. Similarly, only software written for the operating system version currently in place on library computers can be run successfully. Any software covered by a license agreement which precludes use in a library setting cannot be installed on library computers. It is the responsibility of the faculty member placing the software on reserve to obtain written permission from the copyright holder to use the software in a library.

Access to most materials, other than entire or large excerpts of books, is provided via e-Reserves whenever possible. This enhanced service makes reserve material available to students from remote locations anytime the system is available. Class notes, exams, syllabi, homework, instructor overheads, student papers, copies of articles, and other materials are scanned so that full text is available to students from the UF Libraries' home page. In order to ensure access and copyright compliance, the libraries may purchase a book not already in the collections.

II. Copyright Compliance

Only materials that are in compliance with copyright law and this policy may be placed on reserve. The instructor is responsible for submitting a signed Copyright Permission Form for unpublished works to be scanned for reserve, including their own works and any student work they request for reserve. Library staff will attempt to secure copyright permission for published materials that are requested for electronic reserves. Once permission is obtained the materials will be made available to students. If permission is denied or the copyright holder is unable to be located the E-Reserves staff will contact the instructor with other options.

III. Location of Hard Copy Reserve Materials

Instructors should submit reserve requests to the library owning the majority of the materials for their discipline. You may request materials be placed on reserve for your course even if they are owned by another location. It will be the owning libraries decision, in consultation with the requesting library, as to where the item will be placed on reserve.

IV. Personal Items

Instructors may place personal books and other materials on reserve. Personal items will be processed and circulated according to standard reserve procedures. The library will label personal material so that it may circulate within the library.

If the library owns the item, the library's copy will be placed on reserve. The instructor's copy will be returned, unless more than one copy is needed. Course notes, answer sets, student papers, other unpublished materials, and articles will be made available through electronic reserves. Remote access to electronic reserves is limited to current UF students, faculty and staff. If the library has electronic access to the item, the e-Reserves staff will link to the electronic version.

While efforts will be made to safeguard materials, the library is not responsible for any damages to or theft of personal items placed on reserve. Rather than risk your own materials by placing them on reserve, we suggest requesting the library purchase the item. This does require some advance notice; typically six weeks is a good window of time to allow the purchase and processing of a requested item. Your Subject Specialist can assist you in requesting a purchase.

V. Processing Time

Most course reserve requests will be processed on either Hard Copy Reserves or Electronic Reserves within three (3) business days. However, more time may be necessary for:

• Requests submitted on or after the first day of class
• Materials which are currently not on the shelf
• Requests that require retrieval from storage
• Requests that require copyright permission

To ensure that materials will be on reserve for the first day of class for the next semester, instructors should submit their requests four (4) weeks prior to the beginning of the semester. Instructors should not expect materials to be processed and available at the time of submission.

All requests are processed in the order in which they are received.

VI. Removing Items From Reserve

Instructors who request removal of items from their course reserve throughout the term should allow for de-processing time. At the end of each semester, all materials on reserve must be removed or renewed for the next semester. Items may be renewed beyond the semester when the following criteria are met:

1. The class is taught, and the instructor requests retention.
2. Retention does not violate copyright law.

Toward the end of the semester, instructors will receive an email reminder to let the e-Reserves staff know which items will be needed for the next semester. Instructors should indicate whether the materials are to be renewed for the next term. All non-renewed items will be removed before the beginning of the new term. If your personal items are not picked up by the beginning of the new semester, the material will be targeted for disposition by our staff.