first sale doctrine

Don't get hung up on the word, "sale." The copyright owner relinquishes his right to vend once a particular copy is distributed or disposed of even though the distributee is obligated to "return" the copy or destroy it. Many film cases decided upon the issue of "salvage" and recovery of salvaged copies interpreted as a "sale" despite the absence of a technical "sale" for money or money's worth. (See U.S.A. vs. BUDGET FILMS, U.S.A. vs. RAY ATHERTON, U.S.A. vs. MARK THOMAS, and others so decided. What is required is that the vender had no knowledge that the particular copy had not been sold. The government's case turns on its ability to prove that no copy had ever been subjected to any form of such disposal or distribution. Singer. Received on Fri Oct 11 2002 - 05:40:19 GMT