General Guidelines on Use and Copyright

• In good faith, the Libraries apply the principles of Fair Use and will not place any items on either print or electronic reserves that it knows are not in compliance with copyright law. Read more information about Copyright and Fair Use.
• All copies, whether in print or digitized form, must include a notice of copyright: i.e.: ©, year of first publication (if known), name of copyright holder (if known), and a full bibliographic reference (author, title, journal title or book publisher, and date). Materials submitted for reserve without a full citation may be returned to the faculty member for the addition of the required information.
• There will be no charge for access; the charge for copies made by students will be limited to the established printing or copying fees.
• When permission is needed, an OWU Libraries' staff member will request permissions from the copyright holder and the Libraries will pay reasonable fees for your material to be on reserve on a one-time basis if necessary. Please plan ahead—it can take time to secure rights in some instances.
• If an item is used on a recurring basis, the Libraries will make an attempt to purchase an item if it fits within the OWU Collection Development Policy.
• Users may make one copy for private study, personal reading, research, scholarship, or education.

Additional Information on Rights and Services

All collections of the OWU Libraries—regardless of physical format—are purchased by the university for the nonprofit, educational use of students and faculty. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of copies. The library frequently pays a premium institutional subscription price for journals, which is many times the individual subscription price, for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users.

Electronic Reserves is an extension of traditional library services and will be provided in a manner that respects fair use rights, the rights of copyright holders, and current copyright law. The electronic copying and scanning of copyright protected works for library reserve service are unsettled areas of the law which may be addressed by courts and/or legislation. The OWU Libraries will continually monitor legal developments that may affect the fair use analysis of Electronic Reserves services to ensure that library services are in compliance with the letter and spirit of the U.S. copyright law.