| INFORMATION FOR RESEARCHERS :: TERMS GOVERNING USE OF HOLDINGS
Upon application, Manuscripts and Archives grants permission to examine its holdings to qualified researchers, according to university policies on access and subject to whatever restrictions may have been placed by donors or depositors. For information on access to university records see
Research Use of the Yale University Archives.
We will not grant exclusive rights to examine holdings.
Privacy and Publicity Rights
Privacy and publicity rights reflect separate and distinct interests from copyright interests. While copyright protects the copyright holder's property rights in the work or intellectual creation, privacy and publicity rights protect the interests of the person(s) who may be the subject(s) of the work or intellectual creation. Issues pertaining to privacy and publicity may arise when a researcher contemplates the use of letters, diary entries, photographs or reportage in visual, audio, and print formats found in library collections. Because two or more people are often involved in the work (e.g., photographer and subject, interviewer and interviewee) and because of the ease with which various media in digital format can be reused, photographs, audio files, and motion pictures represent materials in which issues of privacy and publicity emerge with some frequency.
While copyright is a federally protected right under the United States Copyright Act, with statutorily described fair use defenses against charges of copyright infringement, neither privacy nor publicity rights are the subject of federal law. Note also that while fair use is a defense to copyright infringement, fair use is not a defense to claims of violation of privacy or publicity rights. Privacy and publicity rights are the subject of state laws. What may be permitted in one state may not be permitted in another. Note also that related causes of action may be pursued under the federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. � 1125 (a), for example, for unauthorized uses of a person's identity in order to create a false endorsement.
While an individual's right to privacy generally ends when the individual dies, publicity rights associated with the commercial value connected with an individual's name, image or voice may continue.
Patrons bear the responsibility of making individualized determinations as to whether privacy and publicity rights are implicated by the nature of the materials and how they use such materials.
Social Security Numbers
Holdings may contain Social Security numbers. The reader must agree not to record, reproduce, or disclose any Social Security numbers that may be included in requested materials. Failure to comply with this agreement may result in the loss of research privileges at Yale University.
Reproduction
The department will consider requests for the reproduction of its holdings. All reproductions (of whatever nature) are provided for the reader's individual use. We reserve the right to request the return of copies and prohibit the making of duplicate copies from those we furnish.
Publication
By granting permission to examine holdings or by supplying a reproduction, we are not authorizing publication. The reader must obtain permission to publish texts and facsimiles from the owners of the copyright, typically the creator or the heirs to his or her estate. The library will be held blameless for the infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by others.
Manuscripts and Archives can only grant permission to publish texts or images for which Yale University is the copyright holder. We reserve the right to assess a use fee when granting permission to publish materials for which the university does hold copyright. In giving permission to publish, the Yale University Library does not surrender its own right thereafter to publish the material or to grant permission to others to publish it.
Researchers publishing texts or facsimiles from our holdings should cite Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library as the source. As soon as a work is published, the researcher should present Manuscripts and Archives with a copy of any publication (except a dissertation) that relies heavily on the department's holdings. |
