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About the National University Library, its services, staff, and available resources

Fair Use of Copyrighted Material

The Northcentral University Library is committed to compliance with intellectual property law and the preservation of the rights of copyright owners and users of copyrighted materials. The Library strives to inform all its constituencies of the rights and responsibilities under the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. Section 107).

  • Fair use applies to the digital environment without regard to the medium of the original work.
  • Fair use does not supersede licensed resources, unless the terms of controlling agreements specifically defer to U.S. Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
  • Fair use depends on a case-by-case examination of facts surrounding each case, and the four factors identified in U.S. Copyright Act 17 U.S.C. Section 107:
    1. The purpose or character of the use; including whether such use is of a commercial nature or for nonprofit educational purposes
    2. The nature of the copyrighted work used.
    3. The amount and substantiality of the work being used.
    4. The effect of the use on the market for or value of the original work.

The Library works to comply with the Fair Use Guidelines and the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) regarding photocopied materials. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. Under certain conditions specified by 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. Northcentral University reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Students should refer to the Acceptable Use of Information Technology policy for additional policies and procedures related to copyright infringement – including Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file sharing – institutional sanctions for student misconduct, and violations and penalties for copyright infringement under federal law.

Interlibrary Loan Policies

Interlibrary Loan Policies 

The Northcentral University Interlibrary Loan service allows University members to obtain scholarly research items not contained in the Library's subscription databases. For this purpose, Northcentral University participates in consortium partnerships for sharing of resources.

Northcentral University respects the privacy of requestors and their use of the Northcentral University Interlibrary Loan service, and it complies with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regarding the privacy of student records.

Eligible Users

The Northcentral University Interlibrary Loan service is available to:

  • Currently enrolled students at Northcentral for University related research

  • Faculty for University related research

Note: Materials needed for course or syllabi development should be submitted to the Library through the Copyright Permissions Process, not through Interlibrary Loan.

  • Team members for work or University related research

Users must submit interlibrary loan requests through the Library website for processing. The Library does not accept lists of references sent through email for interlibrary loan processing. Additionally, book loans are not available through the interlibrary loan. The Northcentral University Library reserves the right to refuse any interlibrary loan request.

Request limits

There is a limit of 10 active requests at a time.

Ineligible Interlibrary Loan Requests

The following types of information are considered ineligible interlibrary loan requests:

  • Print books

  • Video and audio recordings

  • Microform/microfiche

  • Non-circulating items

  • Course required readings such as textbooks

Most libraries will not loan:

  • PhD dissertations

  • Reference materials

  • Recordings, maps, and audiovisual material, such as DVDs, CDs, etc.

  • Rare, valuable, or fragile items

  • Bound or unbound periodicals (photocopies will generally be supplied)

  • Recently published books or books on special reserve status;

  • Items readily available for purchase (APA Manual, for example)

Lending libraries determine circulation and usage of their materials.

Interlibrary Loan and Copyright Law

The Northcentral University Library adheres to the Copyright Office Guidelines, which include CONTU (National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyright) Guidelines regarding the 1976 Copyright Law (Title 17, United States Code). These guidelines impose annual limits on photocopy requests. 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.

Copyright Office Guidelines restrict requests to:

  • No more than one article per patron from the same journal title, volume, issue and year; if the issue was published within the last five calendar years;
  • No more than 5 articles from a single journal title that has been published in the last five calendar years;
  • A single chapter from a book or 10% or less of the total length from a single book.

The Northcentral University Library refuses requests for materials that infringe on limits established by United States Copyright Law.

For more information see Circular 21, published by the U.S. Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf.

10/20/0214 - Office of the Registrar - © 2014 Northcentral University

Interlibrary Loan LibGuide