Q. What are the copyright guidelines for music, video and other multimedia items?

The Music/Media Library houses multimedia materials and copyright laws need to be considered.  The following guidelines have been provided to help patrons understand what is legally permissable.

General rules:

• No copying or distribution except as provided below

• All requests outside approved areas should be referred to regular (non-student) library staff

• For assistance, contact the Music/Media Librarian, 817.257.6623

For most multimedia items, copying is illegal without permission of the copyright holder. Library staff will make copies of TCU University performances in which the requestor participated. Copying requests of TCU performances should be directed to the Concert Request Form and require a minimum of 2 days to process.

The Mary Couts Burnett Library cannot guarantee public performance rights for any audio/visual media although efforts are made to acquire public performance rights whenever possible. It is the patron’s responsibility to use media in compliance with current Copyright Law and seek public performance rights if intending to use the media beyond the traditional definition of Fair Use.

Reserve media for academic courses will be used in-house in the Judge Hamilton Audio/Visual Center and will not circulate. Streaming audio/video is distributed via a patron’s personal computer using TCU network capabilities. Guests may listen to items in-house in the A/V Center, but may not copy or checkout audio/visual items. The Music/Media Library does not possess the capability to copy physical video media or distribute it via class online software, even when permitted by copyright law. 

NOTICE: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, US Code) governs the production and duplication of copyrighted materials. Persons using A/V Center equipment to reproduce copyrighted works may be liable for infringement.