Use, Reproduction, and Publication of Materials
Permission to publish Special Collections materials
The University of Virginia Library is committed to supporting research, teaching, scholarship, publication, and artistic production involving use of the Library’s Special Collections materials. To remove barriers to such uses, it is not necessary to seek the Library’s permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that the Library has made available online from its collections. This applies whether your use is non-commercial or commercial.
The Library’s consent as the owner of the rare original materials does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. Although images posted by the Library are believed to have no known U.S. copyright or other restrictions, it is the sole responsibility of the user or recipient of copies of Special Collections materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to any distribution or publication. If the text or image in question is under copyright, permission to publish must be sought from the owners of the rights, typically the creator or the heirs to his or her estate unless covered by the principle of “fair use.” Copyright law protects unpublished as well as published materials. Any use of Special Collections images or materials is subject to the user or recipient’s agreement to indemnify and hold harmless the University of Virginia, its officers, employees and agents from and against all suits, claims, actions and expenses. By your use of these materials, you agree to these responsibilities, including the noted legal protections of the University of Virginia.
If questions arise concerning the small number of collections for which the University of Virginia does own copyright (generally noted in the catalog records or online guides) or for materials in the University Archives, please contact Special Collections.
Further, some library donors have placed restrictions on the use of Special Collections materials that must be honored. Such restrictions are generally noted in the catalog records or online guides to Special Collections materials, and Library staff will provide informational assistance in these cases.
Special Collections must always be cited as the source of text or images when published or otherwise distributed. In general, Special Collections materials should be cited as:
[title of work or collection name], Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library,
University of Virginia
Special Collections no longer provides signed letters of permission or signs other permission forms. If you require a hard copy of our policy, you may download a copy on our letterhead.
How to Cite
Special Collections must always be cited as the source of text or images when published or otherwise distributed. In general, Special Collections materials should be cited as:
[title of work or collection name], Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library,
University of Virginia
Items from the Barrett or McGregor libraries should be cited as:
[title of work or collection name], Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature,
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
[title of work or collection name], Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History,
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
If you have any questions concerning the proper citation or description of materials in Special Collections, please contact us.
Requesting Reproductions
Please see our procedures for requesting reproductions, which includes our policy on the use of personal digital cameras in our reading room.
United States Copyright Law
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material.
Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." Reproductions may not be made for or donated to other repositories. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement.
The Special Collections Department reserves the right to refuse to accept a duplication request if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the request would involve violation of copyright law.
Copyright law protects unpublished as well as published materials. If you wish to use either published or unpublished materials from our collections in a publication, you must determine whether the work has passed into the public domain and is no longer under copyright protection or find the copyright holders and get permission to use the material. An excellent source on the Internet is the WATCH: Writers and Their Copyright Holders database at the University of Texas, Austin.
For more information about copyright law and how it applies to information found on the Internet, see the Copyright Considerations page from UCSD and the Copyright and Intellectual Property Resources page from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Stanford University also has an extensive website that deals with copyright and fair use.
