Are there limits on what documents can be copied?
Answer
The Library has established copyright guidelines based on the copyright law of the United States and current practices in other academic libraries.
"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.
In order to operate within the guidelines of "fair use" while striving to provide access to research materials, copyright policies for article and book chapter requests are as follows.
The library will not scan:
- More than two chapters from a book.
- More than one article from a journal issue or newspaper.
- Articles or book chapters longer than 50 pages or more than 10% of the journal/book.
- Microfilm or microfiche scans longer than 30 pages.
- Material from Government Documents.
- Materials on Course Reserve.
- Any request that violates the University of Vermont copyright policy.
Users who need more than two chapters from a book or one article from a journal issue are encouraged to visit the library to use these materials in person.