Conditions Governing Use

Overview

Restrictions on access should be documented in the Conditions Governing Access note.

Restrictions on material due to technical requirements (playback equipment, etc.) should be documented in the Physical characteristics and technical requirements note.

For interview-level oral history notes, see separate page

See also DACS 4.4

Language

When the donor of a collection conveys copyright to the college and they are the creator, use the following statement:

To the extent that they own copyright, [donor] has assigned to Smith College all intellectual property rights in these materials; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by [donor/creator], researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

When the donor of a collection conveys copyright to the college and they are not the creator, use the following statement:

To the extent that they own copyright, [donor] has assigned to Smith College all intellectual property rights in these materials created by [creator]; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by [creator], researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

For College Archives transfers (including from student clubs) or materials whose provenance is unknown, use the following statement:

Smith College retains copyright of materials created as part of its business operations; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by Smith College, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

When the donor of a collection explicitly retains copyright [for a period of time], use the following statement:

To the extent that they own copyright, [donor] has retained full ownership of any and all copyrights currently controlled by [donor] in these materials [until their death, until 2050, etc.]. [After [period of time], copyright in these materials will transfer to Smith College.] Copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For those few instances beyond fair use, or which may regard materials in the collection not created by [donor], researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

When copyright to a collection has been licensed for use with a Creative Commons CC-BY license, use the following statement:

To the extent that they own copyright, [donor] has licensed these materials to be freely used, so long as the user attributes materials' original authorship. This agreement is governed by a CC-BY (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International) license. Copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by [donor], researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

When a collection is known to be entirely out of copyright, generally due to age, use the following statement:

Many materials in this collection are in the public domain due to the expiration of the term of copyright. Researchers need not seek or secure permission to re-use or reproduce materials in the public domain.

When a donor has given her materials to the public domain, use the following statement:

To the extent that they owned copyright, [donor] has assigned to the public domain all intellectual property rights they control and/or own in these materials. This agreement is governed by a CC0 (Creative Commons 1.0 Universal) public domain dedication. Copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by [donor], researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.

When the copyright status of a collection is unknown, use the following statement:

Materials in this collection may be governed by copyright. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. Researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.