Library practices for electronic reserve (e-reserves) services are derived from the fair use provisions of the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Under the guidelines listed below, Section 107 of the Copyright Act expressly permits the making of multiple copies for scholarly use.
Kansas State University Libraries purchase collections for the nonprofit educational use by students and faculty. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of copies. The sole purpose of the e-reserves service is to facilitate the making of additional copies for scholarly use by students and faculty. Considered within this context, e-reserves services were developed by the libraries in a manner that conforms to the fair use provisions of Section 107 of the Copyright Law Act. Those Provisions are repeated here:
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106a, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
Copyright Law Agreement
The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific 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 use may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.
