Circulating import editions in public library
- December 18, 2009 @ 4:44pmwlplgreg says:Section 601 of Title 17 states that, while there are restrictions on importing protected print materials, there is an exception when:
-"importation, for use and not for sale, is sought...by an organization operated for scholarly, educational, or religious purposes and not for private gain, with respect to copies intended to form a part of its library"
To me, this sounds like it would be permissible for a public library to purchase and circulate imported copies of a book that's not/not yet available from a US manufacturer (for example, Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" which is available now in the UK, but won't be published in the US until May, 2010).
Can anyone support/refute this conclusion? Are there other sections of Title 17 (or other law) that speak more directly to this question?
Thanks in advance!
-Greg - December 23, 2009 @ 10:49amksmith says:I can support your assertion in regard to section 601 for two reasons. First, it never applied to works by foreign authors that are manufactured outside the US, only to works by U.S. nationals (see subsection (b)(1)). Its purpose was really just to prevent US authors from taking advantage of cheaper printing costs overseas. Second, section 601 was allowed to expire on July 1, 1986.
It is really section 602 that poses the potential problem for libraries, but the explicit exception in 602(a)(3) that allows importation for library lending or archival purposes seems to solve the issue you raise. What is interesting, and worrisome, about 602(a)(3) is that is seems to deliberately exclude the lending of audiovisual works from the scope of its exception. So assuming that the Larsson work is a book, there should be no problem. If it is a film, however, a literal reading of 602 suggests that importation of a single copy for archival purposes is OK, but lending of that copy is not. - December 28, 2009 @ 4:07pmwlplgreg says:Thanks so much for the feedback! The Larsson work is a book, so I feel pretty confident that we've got our bases covered should we decide to purchase and circulate 5 (or fewer!) copies .
I share your worry re: the seeming exclusion of audiovisual works; this would seem to mean that while the purchase of import-only music CDs is OK, circulating them to patrons is not. Now, I know from experience that many public libraries circulate import CDs (I haven't seen as many DVDs, likely due to incompatible region encoding). I wonder if there's some other section of Title 17 (or some other statute) that might trump this section of Title 17? Anyone have any other input? - September 16, 2010 @ 4:03pmTravisN says:[quote=wlplgreg]Section 601 of Title 17 states that, while there are restrictions on importing protected print materials, there is an exception when: -"importation, for use and not for sale, is sought...by an organization operated for scholarly, educational, or religious purposes and not for private gain, with respect to copies intended to form a part of its library" To me, this sounds like it would be permissible for a public library to purchase and circulate imported copies of a book that's not/not yet available from a US manufacturer (for example, Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" which is available now in the UK, but won't be published in the US until May, 2010). Can anyone support/refute this conclusion? Are there other sections of Title 17 (or other law) that speak more directly to this question? Thanks in advance! -Greg [quote=ksmith]I can support your assertion in regard to section 601 for two reasons. First, it never applied to works by foreign authors that are manufactured outside the US, only to works by U.S. nationals (see subsection (b)(1)). Its purpose was really just to prevent [color=grey]insulated water bottle carrier[/color] from taking advantage of cheaper printing costs overseas[color=grey].[/color] Second, section 601 was allowed to expire on July 1, 1986. It is really section 602 that poses the potential problem for libraries, but the explicit exception in 602(a)(3) that allows importation for library lending or archival purposes seems to solve the issue you raise. What is interesting, and worrisome, about 602(a)(3) is that is seems to deliberately exclude the lending of audiovisual works from the scope of its exception. So assuming that the Larsson work is a book, there should be no problem. If it is a film, however, a literal reading of 602 suggests that importation of a single copy for archival purposes is OK, but lending of that copy is not.[/quote] [/quote] Do you know what the intent in 602 would be of archiving without ability to lend out? Is it so that archiving can only be for private benefit and not for the benefit of the public? I wonder why a library specifically would be prohibited from importing it, as it seems to me it would be the other way around (understanding that with the literal read it is specifically a prohibition against AV material).
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