Like many people, you probably do not think twice about photocopying
articles, newsletters or book chapters. By photocopying these
works you may in fact be unintentionally violating copyright law.
This section provides guidelines to help you comply with copyright
law when you photocopy copyrighted material to share with faculty,
students and others.
Permission may be needed to photocopy
articles and other content for uses such as:
- Alumni relations and student recruitment handouts
- Computer printout copies
- Interlibrary loan
- Classroom handouts
- Orientation, training and other staff communications
- Student coursepacks
Photocopies for Students and Faculty
As noted in Exceptions
for Libraries and Archives, qualifying libraries are permitted
to make reproductions for library users (e.g., students and faculty),
provided the following criteria are met:
- The library or archive may make one reproduction of an article
from a periodical or a small part of any other work.
- The reproduction must become the property of the library
- The library must have no reason to believe that the reproduction
will be used for purposes other than private study, scholarship
- The library must display the register's
notice at the place where library users make their reproduction
requests to the library.
A provision in the Copyright Act absolves libraries from infringement
liability for photocopy activity on their premises by patrons
at unsupervised, self-service photocopiers. This provision requires
that libraries display a specific notice stating, among other
things, that photocopying may be subject to copyright law. This
notice is often displayed on a wall behind the photocopier or
on the copier itself.
Photocopying by Students
Photocopying by students is subject to a fair use analysis
as well. However, unlike classroom instructors who usually distribute
copies in large numbers, students typically act only on their
own behalf. As a result, their fair use analysis is likely to
result in a different conclusion than that of a faculty member
For students, a single photocopy of part of a copyrighted work,
such as a copy of an article from a scientific journal made for
research, would likely be considered fair use. Yet there are limits,
even for students. For example, photocopying all the assignments
from a book recommended for purchase by the instructor, making
multiple copies of articles or book chapters for distribution
to classmates, or copying material from workbooks, would most
likely not be considered fair use under a reasonable application
of the four fair use factors.
In general, classroom handouts fall into two categories
– spontaneous and planned:
Spontaneous. These handouts are produced spur-of-the-moment
for one-time use. Consider, for example, an instructor who photocopies
an article from the morning paper for use in that day's
class discussion. This type of handout is likely to be covered
under fair use and would not require copyright permission for
two reasons: 1) the unplanned nature of the use and 2) the work
is so new that the instructor could not reasonably be expected
to obtain permission in a timely manner.
Planned. This category includes handouts that
are either used repeatedly or involve works that have existed
long enough for one to obtain copyright permission in advance.
For example, if the instructor in the above example were to copy
and reuse the same article in future semesters—or if he
or she were to copy an article from a back issue of a newspaper
or magazine—fair use would probably not apply.
Click here for more information
on interpreting the fair use provision in classroom copying.