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Burns Library Services

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Copy Policies

Reference & Instruction Services at Burns Library

Researcher Responsibilities for Reproductions and Permissions

  • Researchers will be expected to follow Burns Library citation guidelines.
  • Unless otherwise specified, Burns Library makes no representation that it is the copyright holder or owns any intellectual property interests in materials it holds.
  • Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials they use and complying with copyright and any other laws, including without limitation, for obtaining any permissions that may be required for quoting, copying, recording, photographing, filming, reproducing, publishing, performing, displaying, or distributing the materials.
  • Reproductions must not be transferred to or deposited with another institution.
  • By creating Burns Library accounts and using Burns Library services, researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless Boston College, its agents and employees against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of photocopies or reproductions of Burns Library materials.
  • In assuming full responsibility for their use of the materials, researchers also understand that materials they examine may contain Social Security numbers, other personal identifiers, or sensitive material on potentially living and identifiable individuals (e.g., medical, evaluative, or personally invasive information). Researchers agree not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security number or other information of a highly personal nature that may be found. Researchers should inform library staff when they encounter this type of information
     

Additional Copyright Restrictions

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.” 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.


Burns Library reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse a reproduction request for any time for any reason, including without limitation if it has concerns the request may be a violation of copyright law.

Permissions to use Burns Library Material

John J. Burns Library will only supply permission letters for collection items when the Trustees of Boston College are the copyright holder and Burns Library has been authorized to act on their behalf. In most cases, John J. Burns Library is not the copyright holder of its collections. The original authors or their heirs may retain copyright to the materials.

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of materials, determining fair use, and/or obtaining any permissions that may be required for quoting, copying, recording, photographing, filming, reproducing, publishing, performing, displaying, or distributing the materials. The researcher assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.

By creating Burns Library accounts and using Burns Library services, researchers agree to indemnify and hold harmless Boston College, its agents and employees against all claims, demands, costs, and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of photocopies or reproductions of Burns Library materials.

Burns Library staff are unable to provide in depth guidance on copyright/permissions. If researchers want to seek permission to use materials currently under copyright, it is their responsibility to identify, locate, and contact the copyright holder. The following resources may be of some assistance:

Permission to use Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives

Copyright and intellectual property rights have been transferred to the Trustees of Boston College for this collection. The Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. John J. Burns Library grants you permission to use these images within these parameters, so please review the licensing language and conduct your own risk assessment

The citation format should be as follows:

  • Item description, Image bh######, Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives (MS2001-039), John J. Burns Library, Boston College.