Scans or other reproductions are provided to patrons pursuant to US Copyright Code sections 107 (Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use) and 108 (Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives).  

Researchers may request scans of collection materials for use in personal research. Upon receiving requests staff will evaluate the materials to see if the scanning process will put the materials at risk of damage. If scanning is deemed safe, staff will determine if there are any fees associated with the request. The South Caroliniana Library provides up to one hour of free scanning per patron in a 90-day period. After the hour of free scanning has been completed, the rate to digitize materials is $50 per hour, and library staff can provide an estimate for digitization requests that exceed one hour upon request. Library User Services staff reserve the right to set limits on the amount of scanning that will be provided.  

High-resolution scans suitable for publication or display may also be requested. The fee for providing a high-resolution image is $10 per image, and is intended to help defray staffing, equipment, and file storage costs.  

Prior to receiving high-resolution scans, or upon receiving research scans, patrons will be required to acknowledge the Library’s Notice Regarding Copyright Restrictions and Use of Reproductions. 

Patrons are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials they may wish to use, to investigate the owner of the copyright, and to obtain permission for the intended use if necessary. The Library’s Notice Regarding Copyright Restrictions and Use of Reproductions provides resources on copyright, and patrons are encouraged to review this document prior to requesting high-resolution scans for publication purposes.  

 The Library will not consider, sign, or enter into an agreement with patrons that provides use rights or any other explicit or implied legal protection for use of Library materials. The Library will not provide permission letters to publish or otherwise use images of items in the Library’s collection, except in the rare instance where the Library directly holds copyright to collection materials. Library staff may be aware of additional restrictions placed upon the use of certain collection materials or have direct knowledge of copyright ownership that is not made obvious to the patron by the nature or content of the work, or from the public catalog record describing the item. In these instances Library staff shall make all efforts to share such knowledge with the patron. Failure to share any such knowledge that Library staff may or may not possess should not be taken by the patron to imply that the work is free of copyright protection or that the copyright holder cannot be located. 

Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited to South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. 

For assistance in determining if published and unpublished material is under copyright or in the public domain, please see Copyright Term and the Public Domain the United States.

If you are planning to publish and will use images of South Caroliniana Library collection materials, please complete this form so we may consider adding your work to our holdings. 

Manuscript collections and archival records that include 20th- and 21st-century materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations and the South Carolina Public Records Act (S.C.C.L. Section 30 1 et seq.) Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of South Carolina assumes no responsibility.