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Faculty Guidelines

Copyright Clearances

Before requesting that materials be placed on reserve, faculty should determine whether or not permission to copy the materials needs to be obtained. Cal Poly Pomona Library's guidelines for reserves are based on the principle that the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, Section 107 permit the making copies of copyrighted material for the classroom:

"Not withstanding the provisions of section 106 and 106a, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phone records or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

To determine if the use of a copyrighted work meets the criteria for fair use, the following four factors must be considered:

  1. the purpose and character of the use
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work being used
  3. the amount and substantiality of the work being used
  4. the effect of the use on the market for value of the original

Copyright permission must be sought after by faculty through the Copyright Clearance Center or write a letter to the publisher: Sample Draft Letter to Publisher.

Reserve may include copyright materials at the request of an instructor for one semester only.

Materials that will be placed in reserve without obtaining copyright permission include any combination on the following list:

  • Quizzes/Exams/Solutions prepared by instructor
  • Homework assignments prepared by instructor
  • Study guides/syllabus prepared by instructor
  • Bibliography or lists prepared by instructor
  • Lecture notes prepared by instructor
  • Student papers (with written authorization)
  • Government publications
  • Overheads prepared by instructor
  • One article from a journal issue per course
  • One chapter from a book per course 

Materials which require copyright permission are:

  • Course Packets
    • A journal article, magazine article, or book chapter intended for use for more than one quarter.
    • Multiple chapters from a single book or multiple articles from a single journal or magazine

Faculty Created Readers/Manuals (Course Packets)

Graphic Communications Services will handle printing and the Bronco Bookstore will be handling copyright clearing and sales distribution for manuals and readers previously produced at Bronco Copy & Mail. Please contact Stacie Shellner (sashellner@cpp.edu) regarding these materials.

How to place materials on Course Reserve

Material may be placed on reserve by submitting a Reserve Request Form (PDF) and should accompany all material.

Materials are processed on a first-come, first serve basis depending on the volume of incoming items and the type of material.

Please remember that in order to ensure availability by the first day of classes, reserve materials must be submitted 2-3 weeks before the semester starts.

After the semester begins, it may take 3-4 working days to process reserve materials depending on staff availability and resources.

Traditional reserve materials are automatically returned to the general collection or sent back to the instructor through campus mail.

The library does not accept responsibility for lost, stolen, or damaged materials.

Reserve staff will affix a call number, barcode, and a checkout label to personally owned items.

Library staff cannot place other library's materials on reserve at Cal Poly Pomona Library reserve services.

To submit physical reserve materials: