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Access & Use Policy

An Access and Use Policy for historical documents outlines the rules and guidelines governing how individuals or institutions can access and use historical documents, archives, or collections. These policies are crucial for preserving the integrity of historical materials, protecting sensitive information, and ensuring responsible and ethical use.

Amending America is an educational nonprofit. Users are encouraged to cite and link to digital content and are free to do so without asking for permission. Depending on the source of the digitized work, licenses or other contractual terms may restrict further distribution or other uses. You need to make your own assessment of the copyright or other legal concerns related to uses beyond those provided by Amending America for particular works.

The possible Access and Use statements that apply to each book are listed below. More information about copyright determinations in Amending America can be found on the Copyright page.


Use: Amending America does not have authority to grant or deny permissions to use images from volumes that are in the public domain or open access.


Attribution: Where uses of public domain volumes are permitted according to the terms below, or appropriate permissions have been secured from rights holders, we request that Amending America be attributed as the source of the digital images with the addition of “courtesy of Amending America” to the citation, and that links to the digital images be included where possible.


  • Public Domain: We have determined this work to be in the public domain, meaning that it is not subject to copyright. Users are free to copy, use, and redistribute the work in part or in whole. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address.


  • Public Domain, Privacy Concerns: We have determined this work to be in the public domain, but access is limited due to privacy concerns. See Amending America’s Privacy Policy for more information.

 

  • Public Domain in the United States: We have determined this work to be in the public domain in the United States of America. It may not be in the public domain in other countries. Copies are provided as a preservation service. Particularly outside of the United States, persons receiving copies should make appropriate efforts to determine the copyright status of the work in their country and use the work accordingly. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address.

 

  • Public Domain or Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized: In addition to the terms for works that are in the Public Domain or in the Public Domain in the United States above, the following statement applies: The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.

 Note: There are no restrictions on use of text transcribed from the images, or paraphrased or translated using the images.

 

  • Open Access: This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law). It is made available from Amending America with explicit permission of the copyright holder. Permission must be requested from the rights holder for any subsequent use.

 

  • Open Access, Google-digitized: This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law). It is made available from Amending America with permission of the copyright holder. Permission must be requested from the rights holder for any subsequent use. The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that these images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. They are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.

 

  • Protected by copyright law: This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law). In the absence of an applicable exception, no further reproduction or distribution is permitted by any means without the permission of the copyright holder.

    • Protected by copyright law but made available on a strictly limited basis in accordance with the statutory limitations including, but not limited to, Section 107 provisions for fair use, Section 108 provisions for libraries and archives, and the rights provided to registered users with disabilities.  In the absence of an applicable exception, no further reproduction or distribution is permitted by any means without the permission of the copyright holder.

      • Lawful uses of works are provided only under the following conditions:

        • Print copies of relevant works in Amending America must be owned currently or have been owned previously by the institution’s library system.

        • Access to persons who have print disabilities:

          • Users must be members of a partner institution in a country where laws permit access to users who have print disabilities.

          • Users must be authenticated into Amending America.

          • Users must be certified by the partner institution as having a print disability or as being a proxy for a person who has a print disability.

      • Section 108 (17 USC §108) replacement, preservation, and distribution uses of digital materials:

        • Users must be located within the United States on the premises of an Amending America member institution library. Member authentication at the institution may be required.

        • The number of users who can access a given digital copy at a time is determined by the number of print copies held (or previously held) in the library system. If a library system only has one print copy, only one user at a time will be able to access the digital copy.


  • In copyright in the United States: This work is in copyright in the United States of America (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law), but in the Public Domain outside the United States. Outside the United States, users are free to copy, use, and redistribute the work in part or in whole. It is possible that heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address.

 

  • In copyright in the United States, Google-digitized: In addition to the terms for works that are In Copyright in the United States above, the following statement applies:The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.

 

  • Available by Permission: This work may be protected by copyright law. It is made available in Amending America with explicit permission of the copyright holder, assignee, or transferee. Permission must be requested from the appropriate party (indicated in the Amending America catalog record) for any subsequent use. Creative Commons Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that “provides Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works.” There are various license types described below.

    • Creative Commons Zero (CC0): This work has been dedicated by the rights holder to the public domain. It is not protected by copyright and may be reproduced and distributed freely without permission. For details, see the full license deed at http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/.

    • Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 and

    • Creative Commons Attribution 4.0This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law) but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ or http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

    • Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives: This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law) but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Only verbatim copies of this work may be made, distributed, displayed, and performed, not derivative works based upon it. Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ or http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0.

    • Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 and

    • CC by ND 4.0 This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law), but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Only verbatim copies of this work may be made, distributed, displayed, and performed, not derivative works based upon it. Copies that are made may only be used for non-commercial purposes. Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0.

    • Clarification on non-commercial uses for works copyrighted by Duke University Press: Non-commercial as defined in this license specifically excludes any sale of this work or any portion thereof for money, even if the sale does not result in a profit by the seller or if the sale is by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or NGO, unless the use is protected by the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

    • Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 and

    • CC by NC 4.0 This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law), but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). This work may be copied, distributed, displayed, and performed – and derivative works based upon it – but for non-commercial purposes only (if you are unsure where a use is non-commercial, contact the rights holder for clarification). Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ or http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0.

    • Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 and

    • CC by NC SA 4.0 This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law), but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). This work may be copied, distributed, displayed, and performed – and derivative works based upon it – but for non-commercial purposes only (if you are unsure where a use is non-commercial, contact the rights holder for clarification). If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0.

    • Clarification on non-commercial uses for works copyrighted by Duke University Press: Non-commercial as defined in this license specifically excludes any sale of this work or any portion thereof for money, even if the sale does not result in a profit by the seller or if the sale is by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or NGO, unless the use is protected by the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

    • Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 and

    • CC by SA 4.0 This work is protected by copyright law (which includes certain exceptions to the rights of the copyright holder that users may make, such as fair use where applicable under U.S. law), but made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. You must attribute this work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. Please check the terms of the specific Creative Commons license as indicated at the item level. For details, see the full license deed http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.


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