Permissions & Licensing
Special Collections & Archives staff may be able to help you determine whether CSUN owns the copyright for materials you are interested in publishing, reproducing, or including in a public display. Researchers interested in using collection materials in a public display, printed work, audio-visual production, or online resource should request permission below. Special Collections & Archives staff will research the copyright status of the material, and respond to you within 10 business days.
*For permission to use materials in the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center's Collections, please contact Bradley Center staff.
Submit Usage or Licensing Request
- Determining copyright status of materials in Special Collections & Archives is ultimately the researcher's responsibility. Special Collections & Archives will share information it has about copyright holders when possible. Researchers are responsible for contacting copyright holders to obtain permission for use.
- Researchers do not need to obtain permission to use materials in the public domain. For more information, consult the "Public Domain" section of Copyright Overview: The Basics or Cornell University’s Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States.
- In most cases CSUN does not hold copyright for materials in Special Collections & Archives. Special Collections & Archives cannot grant or deny permission to use materials when the university does not hold copyright.
- Special Collections & Archives can grant permission to use materials when CSUN is the copyright holder. In these cases, Special Collections & Archives staff will provide a Licensing Form. When granting permission to publish, the university retains its own right to publish the material, and to grant permission to others to publish it.
- The library has received permission from rights holders to include some materials in our Digital Collections. The presence of an item in the library's Digital Collections does not indicate the university holds copyright for the item.
- Regardless of copyright status, Special Collections & Archives may charge duplication fees to create scans or other copies of materials. See our Duplications page and Duplication Fee Schedule for more information.
- A Fair Use exception is contained in U.S. copyright law. It allows limited use of copyrighted materials for non-commercial purposes, such as teaching, scholarship, research, criticism, commentary, and news reporting. Researchers are responsible for determining if their use falls under the Fair Use exception. For more information see the "Fair Use" section of Copyright Overview: The Basics and the U.S. Copyright Office's More Information on Fair Use.
- Individuals possess privacy and publicity rights that are subject to state laws separate from copyright. In some cases researchers will need to secure the consent not only of copyright holders, but also of third parties who may be represented in items from the collections. Researchers are responsible for addressing issues of privacy and publicity in their use of materials.
- Users should always cite Special Collections & Archives at CSUN as the owner of the physical materials in a citation or courtesy line. For example: [Identification of item], [Collection Name], Special Collections and Archives, University Library, California State University, Northridge.
- Researchers interested in using collection materials in a public display, printed work, audio-visual production, or online resource, should complete and submit a Usage or Licensing Request.