Libraries may also copy a published work “if the existing format in which the work is stored has become obsolete.” A format is obsolete “if the machine or device necessary to render perceptive a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.” If you cannot see or hear the work because you are unable to acquire the equipment that enables you to see or hear it—if the equipment is no longer manufactured or not reasonably available—then you can make a copy of it.
Example 3. Sound Recordings
Your library has a collection of 78 r.p.m. blues records from artists like John Lee Hooker and Elmore James, but only one ancient record player.
- Comment: Under section 108(c), if you cannot acquire at a reasonable price a record player that plays 78s, you can copy the records onto a different format. This does not end the inquiry, however. If you can buy the recordings in a different format—if they are available on CD, for example—then you should do so and not make a copy.
Example 4. Videos
Your library has some old videos in Betamax format and you no longer have Betamax equipment.
- Comment: If you cannot purchase Betamax equipment at a reasonable price, you can copy the videos onto a different format unless, as in Example 2, you can purchase a video in a “current” format such as DVD.
The Bottom Line: If at a reasonable price a library can buy the equipment that enables it to play its old format “stuff,” or if it can buy the old “stuff” in a current format, it should. If the library cannot do either, then it may make a copy under 108(c).
