{"id":4055,"date":"2021-01-20T17:16:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T21:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/?page_id=4055"},"modified":"2025-07-31T15:30:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T15:30:55","slug":"electronic-course-reserves-guidelines-for-instructors","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/copyright\/electronic-course-reserves-guidelines-for-instructors\/","title":{"rendered":"Electronic Course Reserves Guidelines for Instructors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Making copies of materials for online courses requires considering copyright. Unlike putting a physical copy of a book on reserve, when you upload a pdf to a course site (or otherwise share copies with the class) you are making and distributing new copies, and therefore you must consider the copyright implications. These guidelines will help course instructors make informed copyright decisions about their course materials.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is your responsibility as the instructor of a course to ensure that you are using course materials responsibly and consistent with copyright law. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you need the MIT Libraries to make a scan of the content for you to upload into course reserves, then the Libraries must agree, through our standard practices, that providing you with the scan is permitted under copyright law in order to provide it.\u00a0 See the <a href=\"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/borrow\/course-reserves\/faq\/\">Course Reserves FAQ<\/a> for more information on requesting scans through the Libraries.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Worry-free content<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some course materials have few or no copyright concerns, these include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Materials not protected by copyright<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/17\/105\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Federal government documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Documents created by the federal government are not subject to copyright and can be freely used and shared. Examples: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Official NASA photos, CIA Factbooks, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">USGS-authored maps<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Works <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/copyright.cornell.edu\/publicdomain\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">no longer protected by copyright<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> because their copyright has expired: Copyright lasts for a limited (if long) period of time. Most works created prior to the early 20th century are in the public domain and may be freely used. Examples: classic literature, some early silent films, classical sheet music.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Materials licensed by the MIT Libraries: Most electronic resources available through the Libraries can be included in electronic course reserves.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Linking to the electronic content (so that your students can access it directly) is always allowed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Uploading copies of content to a course site (with access limited to enrolled students for the duration of the course) is also permitted for most journal articles and ebook chapters.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Openly available content\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Linking to content that is openly available on the internet is always allowed and may be the best option for some content. Example: Current news stories not covered by Libraries subscriptions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Openly licensed content: content distributed under a <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/\">Creative Commons<\/a> or other similar license which explicitly allows reuse and sharing. Examples: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oercommons.org\/\">OER textbooks<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/core.ac.uk\/\">OA journal articles<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.doabooks.org\/\">monographs<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair use guidance<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For course materials not covered by the categories above, copyright law also provides for reuse of content without additional permission when the requirements for \u201cfair use\u201d are met. Educational uses are frequently, but not always, a fair use. Fair use is determined by a four-factor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/17\/107\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">statutory test<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">General fair use principles<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair use is designed to be a flexible standard, which is useful but can be frustrating when it doesn\u2019t provide simple answers. Courts have stressed that fair use requires a case-by-case assessment of the facts. Being comfortable with making a fair use analysis is essential to responsibly managing course reserve readings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The following general principles apply to the fair use analysis:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">No single factor is determinative of a fair use outcome, there is no one fact that will, by itself, make a use fair or unfair.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">All four factors must be examined and weighed together, and the relative importance of each factor may vary between cases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Findings as to one factor influence the weight given to other factors. The first factor, for example, affects the way we think about the third and fourth factors.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The four factors<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><b>purpose and character<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This factor strongly favors fair use if your use is <\/span><b>transformative<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, meaning that you are using the work for a different purpose than it was originally created. Example: critical analysis of a novel or film<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Educational <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">use is also favored under this factor, but the amount used should be narrowly tailored to the pedagogical needs of the course. For course reserves, this also means that reserve materials should be accessible <\/span><b>only to students enrolled in the course<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and only for the course duration.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><b>nature<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the copyrighted work;<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Highly <\/span><b>factual<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> works favor fair use\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Published<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> works, meaning works deliberately released to the public by the copyright owner, favor fair use under this factor<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><b>amount and substantiality<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair use can apply to an entire work, however the fair use argument will be strengthened by only using an amount of the work <\/span><b>narrowly tailored<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to the pedagogical or transformative purpose for the use<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><b>effect<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fair use is favored if your use would not inappropriately interfere the <\/span><b>economic value <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">of the work for the copyright holder. Works that are <\/span><b>out of print<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or that cannot easily be licensed for course reserves are more likely to favor fair use under this factor. Works that are designed for classroom use (for example, worksheets or problem sets) are less likely to favor fair use under this factor.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have questions about fair use, you can schedule a consultation with Libraries staff by contacting <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/libanswers.mit.edu\/ask-scholarly-communications\">Ask Scholarly Communications<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additional resources<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.law.gsu.edu\/gsucopyrightcase\">Georgia State University copyright e-reserves case<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/17\">US copyright law<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Visit the US Copyright Office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/fair-use\/\">fair use index<\/a>, a searchable database of fair use cases<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arl.org\/know-your-copyrights\/\">Know Your Copyrights<\/a> from the Association of Research Libraries<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/libguides.ala.org\/copyright\/fairuse\">Fair use guide<\/a> from the American Libraries Association<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cmsimpact.org\/codes-of-best-practices\/\">Codes of Best Practices in fair use<\/a> in various disciplines, from the Center for Media &amp; Social Impact<\/li>\n<li>Author\u2019s Alliance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.authorsalliance.org\/2018\/02\/28\/newly-updated-fair-use-faq\/\">fair use FAQ<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6DEu-cVYcI0&amp;ab_channel=UniversityofVirginiaLibrary\">Fair use in seven words<\/a> &#8211; a two minute video from University of Virginia<\/li>\n<li>A helpful\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lib.umn.edu\/services\/copyright\/use\">Fair Use overview from the University of Minnesota<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/guides.lib.utexas.edu\/copyright\/fairuse\">Stanford Fair Use Center<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h6>Page last updated on July 31, 2025<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making copies of materials for online courses requires considering copyright. Unlike putting a physical copy of a book on reserve, when you upload a pdf to a course site (or otherwise share copies with the class) you are making and distributing new copies, and therefore you must consider the copyright implications. These guidelines will help course instructors make informed copyright decisions about their course materials. It is your responsibility as the instructor of a course to ensure that you are using course materials responsibly and consistent with copyright law. If you need the MIT Libraries to make a scan of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4298,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4055","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4055"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4055\/revisions\/5105"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraries.mit.edu\/scholarly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}