The Law Library provides copyright and course material/packet support services to assist faculty in seeking copyright permissions for projects and preparing and distributing supplemental readings, course packets, and reserve materials. These services are governed by the Law School Copyright Policy.
Faculty should plan for 4 weeks of processing time for licensing requests.
Read the Law School Copyright Policy.
The BYU CLO has posted the following guidelines for all supplemental course materials:
- Linking to authorized online sources is a preferred option.
- Directing students to subscription content available through the BYU Librar[ies] is also a great option. For assistance linking to any particular Library content, contact [your liaison or Law Library Reference].
- Copying entire works is generally not recommended. Alternatively, copying limited portions of works to share with students will often be fair use. (The Fair Use Checklist and Interactive Fair Use Evaluation Log are helpful tools for analyzing fair use.)
Links to supplemental resources are always the recommended option, because links do not involve making copies. Linkable resources include authoritative sites on the open web, LexisNexis, Westlaw, HeinOnline and other library-licensed material. The Law Commons is an open-source repository of scholarly legal content, including law review articles from many highly-ranked journals. The Library of Congress provides access to online federal legal resources, as well as links to state primary legal resources. Cornell’s Legal Information Institute is another good portal to legal resources and information. Google Scholar can be also be useful as a tool for locating authoritative legal content, including case opinions.
If the supplemental material to be shared with a class is not available online, we will likely need to obtain copyright permission for that use. Faculty should keep in mind that permission to scan books or articles often requires payment of royalties, which must then be collected from each student enrolled in the class. Copyright permission must be secured before items can be copied and distributed.
Getting Help
Please contact your liaison or Annalee Hickman Pierson if you would like help with locating sources for supplemental course materials.
Questions regarding copyright issues and requests for clearance should be directed to Laurie Urquiaga at (801) 422-6657 or urquiagal@law.byu.edu.
Faculty who use copyrighted content as supplemental course material must obtain clearance before asking Library Circulation to scan and print or the web support team to post the material. For tracking purposes, clearance requests should be emailed to urquiagal@law.byu.edu and include the bibliographic details for each item (article/chapter title, source, page numbers) as well as course ID and the number enrolled. The requestor should plan to submit requests 4–6 weeks before the material will be needed, to allow time for processing.
Alternatively, faculty have the option to obtain clearance themselves, and then provide that permission record to Laurie Urquiaga. This approach is often the best choice if the copyright owner of the desired content is a known colleague. A fillable PDF form letter is provided as a model, but a less-formal email is sufficient if it contains adequate detail.
- Copyright Clearance Request Letter (PDF form letter allowing faculty to request permissions directly)
After the use of copyrighted content has been cleared, requests for help with scanning and printing course materials or packets may be directed to Melanie Coleman. Melanie will forward scanned items to the web team if they are to be posted on Canvas or TWEN.