Rights and Permissions

The Bernard Becker Medical Library offers public access to the materials in its Archives and Rare Books (ARB) collections as a contribution to education and scholarship. The Library retains all rights to the reproduction of these resources.

Some materials in the collections may be protected by copyright. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by the Fair Use provisions of the US copyright law (see below) requires the written permission of the Bernard Becker Medical Library and/or the copyright owners.  Researchers maintain the full legal responsibility for observing the copyright law, as well as the laws of libel, invasion of privacy, and property rights.

Fair use

Images, audio, and other files from the Bernard Becker Medical Library collections, including its website, online exhibits, and oral history project may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of the United States copyright law (United States Code, Title 17, Section 107) which allows limited use of copyrighted materials under certain conditions. One of these specified provisions 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, ARB materials for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement.

In accordance with the Fair Use stipulations, ARB resources may be viewed, printed, photocopied, or downloaded without prior permission, if proper attribution of the source is provided.  For any other use, including but not limited to display, publication, or commercial use, permission of the copyright holder must be obtained.

Permission for use

With the exception of uses allowed under the Fair Use provisions (see above), researchers should contact the Bernard Becker Medical Library for permission to use ARB collections, images, or online content. If permission for use is given, it is given on behalf of the Bernard Becker Medical Library as owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the user. The Bernard Becker Medical Library cannot be assumed to hold the literary rights to the items in the ARB collections.  When necessary, it is the responsibility of the user to secure proper permission from the copyright holder to quote such materials.

Users assume all liability for copyright infringement.  Users agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Bernard Becker Medical Library against all suits, claims, actions, and expenses arising out of use of the ARB collections.

Educational use versus commercial use

Bernard Becker Medical Library encourages the educational use of all ARB resources at no charge. We would appreciate your taking the time to tell us about your class and its use of collection materials. If you wish to use ARB resources for publication or for any commercial purpose, please contact the Archives and Rare Books Department.

Modification of ARB material

In the interest of scholarship, and in order to assure authenticity of the information, we expressly request that no text, image, or audio excerpt from the ARB collections, website, or any of its online exhibits be modified in any way.

Re-publication and links

It is inappropriate to link to any one section of the ARB website or to any one section of any of the online exhibits, or to embed a portion from these sites internal to your own, since this obscures the nature of our own website publication. A link to the entire website is appreciated. As a courtesy, please let us know that you have created a link, and provide us the URL to your own site.

Attribution of source

Citations, quotations, and any other use of text or images from our collections made under Fair Use or with permission of the copyright holder must acknowledge their source as: Bernard Becker Medical Library, Washington University School of Medicine.