Copyright and Web Use Policies – SUNY New Paltz Library

This policy serves as guidelines for the responsible use of copyrighted materials available in the Sojourner Truth Library building or via its web site. The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17 of the United States Code), as amended through 2002, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, and the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH) of 2002 are the main legal texts that govern the following library services

COPYING & PRINTING

A notice is posted on all library photocopy machines, microform equipment, scanners, and network printers to alert users about compliance with the Copyright Law. Library users are liable for any excessive copying, printing, or scanning.

COURSE RESERVES

Materials placed on “traditional” reserves (where the physical copy is circulated) or made available as a digital copy via the campus’ course management system (Blackboard) are do so at the initiative of faculty and must comply with Section 107 (fair use) and Section 108 (library photocopying and other reproduction) of the Copyright Law. All items, regardless of format, must bear:

the copyright emblem ©
a complete bibliographic citation, including copyright date and the name of the copyright holder.

In compliance with the TEACH Act, electronic access to items on the electronic reserve system is restricted by password to students enrolled in a particular course. All items are removed from the system at the end of each semester.

If an item to be placed on reserve does not comply with the fair use doctrine, faculty must secure permission from the copyright owner through the publisher. For the use of recent books and articles, copyright permissions may be obtained via the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com or RSiCopyright’s Instant Clearance Service at http://www.icopyright.com. Proof of permission must be provided to the library before the item can be placed on reserve.

INTERLIBRARY LOAN SERVICE

The library complies with Sections 108(d) and (g) of the Copyright Law, as well as the National Commission on Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Guidelines in providing interlibrary loan service through its electronic ILLiad system.

Section 108(d) allows the library to obtain from another institution an article or a small portion of a copyrighted work for a requestor for the purpose of ‘private study, scholarship, or research.’ Section 108(g) states that the library may not engage in making multiple copies systematically. The CONTU guidelines further specify that within any calendar year, the interlibrary loan office may not request more than five copies of a single or multiple articles from one periodical published within the previous five years. The library pays a royalty on all copies that exceed the limit of the CONTU guidelines.

A warning concerning copyright restriction is displayed on the periodical article request form on the ILLiad system. A requestor is directed to read the notice prior to submitting a request.

For more information about copyright restrictions for course reserves and interlibrary loan, please contact the Collection Access Team Leader at (845) 257-3715.

WEB USE

The library provides electronic resources for the use of SUNY New Paltz students, faculty and staff through contractual agreements with database vendors. A sign-on is required to use all public computers in the Library Access to subscription databases outside the campus is limited to the academic community. Users are authenticated by both the library and campus networks. SUNY New Paltz complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The Library is not responsible for any information obtained or used from the Internet by library users. All users are expected to use the Internet in a legal and ethical manner, consistent with the educational and research mission of the College.

Making a single copy of a text file (e.g., an article) stored in a subscription database for the use of study, scholarship or research is permissible under the fair use doctrine. However, unauthorized access to or illegal downloading, transmitting and sharing of copyrighted digital works (e.g., files, software, images, music, video, etc.) over the campus network connections violate the DMCA. Copyright infringements may result in termination of access to library and campus networks, and/or being subject to legal actions from the University. (See New Paltz DMCA Policy for details. Use of computers in the Library to access the Internet and the Web are subject to New Paltz campus policies for such use.

WEB RESOURCES ON COPYRIGHT