Background Image for Header:
Reproduction and Use Fees
This page contains information about the fees applied when requesting new digitization of materials or requesting to use digitized materials for a publication, exhibit, commercial endeavor, or other use.
To request new digitization of items, please complete a reference request.
To request a high resolution digital reproduction of existing digitized material from West Virginia History OnView, the Oral History Collection, the Folk Music Collection, or another one of our digital collections, use the digital collections request form.
Digitization Formats and Fees
The WVRHC can digitize certain items on request. Supported formats include slides and negatives, photographs, documents, oversized documents, books, audio cassettes, vinyl records (33 1/3 and 45 RPM), microcassettes, and VHS and VHS-C tapes. Unsupported formats may be digitized by an external vendor for an additional cost.
The department charges for the time required to digitize the requested material or if required, costs for specialized media reproduction services. The department reserves the right to reject requests that involve large volumes of materials, materials that are fragile and unable to be digitized safely, requests of formats that the department does not support, or requests that are in violation of copyright law. After submitting a reference request, you will receive a quote and an estimate of the time the order will take to be fulfilled. If you have a rush order, please let us know at the time of your request.
WVU students, faculty, and staff requesting digitization for instructional or educational purposes receive two hours of digitization free of charge. Please include this information and use your WVU email when you submit a reference request.
| Time Required | Cost |
| Less than 30 minutes | Complimentary |
| 30 minutes | $30 |
| 60 minutes (and each subsequent hour) | $60 |
| Rush requests | Additional 50% surcharge of total added to cost |
Use fees will be applied for usage requests of materials for commercial purposes if the WVRHC holds unambiguous copyright to those materials or the WVRHC has generated digital versions of public domain materials. Usage of materials will require signing the Reproduction Agreement Form. Usage of materials for private study, scholarship, or research will never require use fees. In the cases where the WVRHC does not have these rights or the rights are not in the public domain, the WVRHC can only furnish reproductions for private study, scholarship, or research use, in which case use fees will not apply.
- Commercial publication or exhibition: $100 per item
- Non-profit publication, exhibition, or educational use: free of charge
WVU students, faculty, and staff do not have to pay use fees but must still complete the Reproduction Agreement Form. West Virginia nonprofit organizations receive 50% off all orders.
To request to use an item for one of the listed purposes, please contact Lemley Mullett at mary.mullett@mail.wvu.edu. If these fees are a financial hardship, please let us know at the time of your request.