Re: personal items of professor / teacher on reserve

On Thu, 13 Jul 2000, Rose Christensen <rchriste[_at_]nwacc.cc.ar.us> wrote:
>
> My understanding is that if the library does not own the
> book/video/journal to be placed on reserve, the instructor may put
> a personal copy on reserve for one semester. If a longer reserve
> time is needed, the instructor must receive copyright clearance and
> attach the permission notice to the reserve item. Is this myth or
> fact -- or individual library's prerogative?

Rose,

I think you might be blending in the ALA guidelines applying to making copies to be put on reserve with the first sale doctrine.

The answer to this question is different if you are talking about putting a professor's original personal copy on reserve than if you are talking about making copies of the professor's own copy on reserve.

If Professor walks in with one copy which is his personal copy and asks to have that one copy put on reserve, there is no problem with putting it on reserve for more than one semester. The library is making no copies so it does not violate the reproduction right. The first sale doctrine allows the professor to lend his copy to the library and to his students.

If, as so often happens, the professor asks the library to make additional copies for a large class, then the reproduction right is involved and a library would be well advised to follow the one semester guideline in the ALA guidelines.

But if a professor brings you one personal copy lawfully made for his own study or otherwise lawfully made, or an original, I see no problem with repeatedly putting it on reserve semester after semester. Many publishers do not agree and would argue against all kinds of reserve use, but as of yet, the United States does not include a public lending right as one of the copyright bundle of rights as many European countries do.

Mary Brandt Jensen
Advocate's Legal Research & Brief Writing Service 1907 Wolfe St.
Oxford, MS 38655
(662) 236 3738
mjensen[_at_]watervalley.net
http://www.watervalley.net/users/mjensen/ Received on Sun Jul 16 2000 - 02:20:43 GMT