Page:The librarian's copyright companion, by James S. Heller, Paul Hellyer, Benjamin J. Keele, 2012.djvu/92

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The Librarian’s Copyright Companion

copyright notice with each specific article, but instead only a general notice at the beginning of the issue, or elsewhere.

Finding the notice may not be easy. The U.S. Copyright Office lists ten places where a copyright notice may appear in a book, and an additional three places for periodical issues.[1] Looking for the copyright notice is like being At the Circus. Make a diligent search for the formal notice, but do not make yourself crazy trying to find it.

If you cannot readily locate the formal copyright notice, stamp the article: “This Material Is Subject to the U.S. Copyright Law; Further Reproduction in Violation of That Law Is Prohibited.” In fact, you should use the stamp every time your library makes a copy under the section 108 exemption. Here is what you should do:

  • Prepare this notice in large (13-point) type;
  • Put a box around it so it looks like this:

This Material Is Subject to the
U.S. Copyright Law;
Further Reproduction in
Violation of That Law Is
Prohibited

  • Send this to a stamp company and ask them to make you a stamp (in fact, make an extra stamp);
  • Purchase a red ink pad and extra red ink;
  • Whenever you make a copy—even when you do include the formal copyright notice—stamp the copy in the upper right hand corner.

What about chapters from books? Whenever you copy a book chapter, look for the formal notice. It usually appears on the verso of the title page (although as you read above, Copyright Office regulations permit an Easter egg-like hunt). You should include the copyright notice with the copy you are making. Also include the title page from the book, as it indicates where the chapter came from.

If a book consists of a variety of chapters written by different authors, it is a collective work, and each author may have copyright in his or her own chapter. The Copyright Office notes that a single notice applicable to the entire collective work indicates copyright protection for all of the con-


  1. 37 C.F.R. § 201.20 (2011).