Current guidelines for onsite research at Chesney Archives
The Chesney Archives advocates fair and open use of its holdings as a primary means of advancing new knowledge. Our policy is to make holdings accessible for use whenever it is legally allowable. The Johns Hopkins University and The Johns Hopkins Health System retain the right to limit access to the intellectual property of these two institutions whenever deemed necessary.
The Johns Hopkins Health System and The Johns Hopkins University possess intellectual property rights to most of the materials generated by the personnel of these institutions and other types of work for hire that are represented in the collections. In addition, the archives possesses materials for which intellectual property rights are owned by institutions and individuals that have no affiliation with Johns Hopkins.
The Chesney Archives requires that archival patrons comply with intellectual property laws that apply to the archival materials that they intend to employ. The archives divides use of intellectual property into three categories: fair use, for-profit use, or not-for-profit use. Patrons can apply for license to use Johns Hopkins intellectual property or permission to use Johns Hopkins holdings for purposes other than fair use. For more information, visit our Reproductions and Permissions page.
The fair use doctrine was codified in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976. Generally, fair use refers to legally permitted uses of copyrighted material for purposes such as criticism, comment, and education. This type of use does not require permission from copyright holders. More information on fair use and its applications may be found at the links below.
Fair Use information from US Copyright Office
Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use (Center for Social Media)
Distribution free of charge of materials reproduced from our holdings qualifies as not-for-profit use and is eligible for a discounted fee; the tax-exempt status of an organization applying for permission is not a factor in making this determination. Examples of not-for-profit use include:
For-profit use denotes distribution for a fee of materials reproduced from our holdings. Examples of for-profit use include: