limitations will probably shield you from liability for copying,[1] but the copyright owner could still obtain damages for distribution. When a work is in your collection, it's being distributed on an ongoing basis, and thus the statute of limitations won't protect you from a distribution claim.[2] For libraries, this is the most troublesome aspect of distribution, because you probably don't know how your library acquired certain items in the distant past. If you know that your collection includes unauthorized copies of protected works, you may want to consider discarding the copies, or at least remove them from the catalog and put them in storage.
So far, we're been talking about distribution and the first sale doctrine as they apply to most types of works. Under the original 1976 Copyright Act, all works were treated the same way with respect to distribution, but Congress later amended the Act to create special distribution rules for sound recordings and software.[3]
The Record Rental Amendment Act of 1984[4] and the Computer Software Rental Amendment Act of 1990[5] prohibit the unauthorized rental, leasing or lending of sound recordings or computer programs for a purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage. The purpose of these acts was to stop stores like Blockbuster from renting sound recordings and software.[6] The Record Rental Amendment Act did not clearly define the term "sound recording", but a federal appellate court has ruled that the Act applies only to recordings of musical works, and not to recordings of literary works (i.e., audio books).[7]
- ↑ Generally, civil actions for copyright infringement must be filed within three years of the infringement, 17 U.S.C. § 507(b) (2006). We'll discuss the statute of limitations in more detail in Chapter Three.
- ↑ In Hotaling, a library incurred liability in exactly this way. Its collection included unauthorized copies of a work, and although the copyright owner's copying claim was time-barred, the distribution claim was not. 118 F.3d at 203-05.
- ↑ Congress considered, but did not include, a prohibition against lending computer game cartridges. This is why you can rent Nintendo and PlayStation games from video rental stores. See S. Rep. No. 101-265 (1990).
- ↑ Pub. L. No. 98-450, 98 Stat. 1727 (1984).
- ↑ Pub. L. No. 101-650, 104 Stat. 5134 (1990).
- ↑ H.R. Rep. No. 98-987, at 2 (1984) and S. Rep. No. 101-265, at 3 (1990).
- ↑ Brilliance Audio, Inc. v. Haights Cross Communications, Inc., 474 F.3d 365, 374 (6th Cir. 2007).
