Copies? How and how much?

Cow display
Cow display, MAC, ca.1930

With the goal of providing unfettered access to our holdings, Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) does not charge for the reproduction or publication of materials under our care. SCUA provides photocopies or digital surrogates in reasonable amounts for scholarly use under the following conditions:

  • Copies are prepared solely for individual research use and may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, or placed in other repositories without the prior written permission of the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
  • SCUA reserves the right to limit the number of photocopies or scans in any order and may decline to make reproductions if the original items may be damaged in the process.
    • Orders are limited to no more than 400 photocopies per researcher, per month. (Scanning archival materials, especially certain formats or varied sizes, can be labor-intensive. Staff availability may affect our ability to fulfill large or complex requests, as well as timing for filling requests.)
  • SCUA does not control copyright for all material under our care: researchers assume sole responsibility for any infringement of copyright.
    • Some copyright holders reserve the right to impose fees for use of their creative content, regardless of SCUA’s policies
    • Except for brief excerpts made under the fair use provision of the federal copyright act, SCUA will not duplicate copyrighted material without the written permission of the copyright owner.
  • Permission to publish from SCUA’s collections must still be requested separately, in writing. Proper attribution to the collection and to SCUA must be provided in the final publication.

Request copies by email:

Requests may be addressed to our archivists.

What are the fees?

Although SCUA does not charge for publication from collections under our care, individual copyright holders may retain the right to do so.

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