This is an unsettled area of law, so for guidance we will rely on the Visual Resources Association’s 2004 Image Collection Guidelines: The Acquisition and Use of Images in Non-Profit Educational Visual Resources Collections, which are included in Appendix L.[1] Many colleges and universities have either adopted or adapted the Guidelines to help them collect and manage their image collections. For librarians, the most interesting part of the Guidelines details the circumstances in which library copying of published images is likely to be fair use. Fair use is likely when:
- Images of suitable quality are not readily available at a reasonable cost and in a reasonable time from any of the options listed above [purchase, license, donation, inter-library loan, original onsite imaging],
- Images will not be shared between or among other educational institutions if such use is prohibited by the terms of their acquisition,
- Images will be used for comment, criticism, review, analysis, discussion, or other similar purpose associated with instruction or scholarship, and
- Images will be used for purposes that are both nonprofit and educational.
The VRA Guidelines seem reasonable, but they are not binding and some institutions add or subtract from them. For example, a library may wisely choose
- to limit to a reasonable amount the number of images taken from a single published source (say, no more than 10%).
- to limit access to digital images to students enrolled in the course.
- not to use images scanned for a particular course in a subsequent course without first checking if it is available for purchase.
- to post these guidelines on the university’s website and where the collections are maintained.
Handling copyright questions relating to images is not much different from other types of works. Is the image under copyright? Does a statutory exemption (fair use, section 108, TEACH Act) permit the use? If not, seek permission.
- ↑ The VRA Guidelines are available at http://www.vraweb.org/resources/ipr/guidelines.html. Also see the VRA’s Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research and Study, at http://www.vraweb.org/organization/pdf/VRAFairUseGuidelinesFinal.pdf.
