Re: personal items of professor / teacher on reserve

On 07/13/2000, Rose Christensen <rchriste[_at_]nwacc.cc.ar.us> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jul 06, 2000, Tyler Ochoa <tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> wrote:
> >
> > On 06/30/2000, Mike A. Cobb <mikecobb[_at_]liberty.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > Is it a copyright violation for a library to place a personal item
> > > belonging to a teacher on reserve for his/her class to use? Teachers
> > > frequently place library-owned material on reserve for their class,
> > > but it seems different to do that with their own personal items.
> >
> > No, it is not a violation. Sec. 109(a) states that "the owner of a
> > particular copy ... lawfully made under this title ... is entitled,
> > without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise
> > dispose of the possession of that copy." Under this section, known
> > as the "first-sale doctrine," the person who owns a lawful copy may
> > lend it to anyone else.
>
> I write in response to Mike Cobb's question about a professor's
> personal items on reserve in the library:
>
> My understanding is that if the library does not own the
> book/video/journal to be placed on reserve, the instructor may put
> a personal copy on reserve for one semester. If a longer reserve
> time is needed, the instructor must receive copyright clearance
> and attach the permission notice to the reserve item. Is this
> myth or fact -- or individual library's perogative?

Myth, myth, myth. If the professor owns a copy lawfully made in the U.S., he/she can place it on reserve indefinitely, without the permission of the copyright holder.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Associate Professor
Whittier Law School
<tochoa[_at_]law.whittier.edu> Received on Fri Jul 14 2000 - 20:32:44 GMT