Re: use of electronic materials

At 11:21 AM 10/4/93 -0400, Nick Finke wrote: [nb. btw Nick, I spell my name the right way... with 2 n's :-) ]
> ... If a library purchases access to a database for its patron rather than
>purchasing the data in hardcopy, it is then probably foreclosed by its contract
>with the database service from furnishing the information to another patron.
>Online distribution thus defeats the effects of the first sale doctrine which
>is embodied in section 109(a) of the current Act. ...

I recall hearing at a conference a year or so ago that some reference book publishers are selling their books (yes, real paper books with bindings...) with restrictions on use. The librarians said that some books are being sold with a provision that they only be used for reference and may not be loaned out. I don't recall for certain, but believe the librarians said that this was an agreement they had to sign to purchase the books.

It is interesting that the print publishers are, in a sense, slowly beginning to emulate the online database publishers by restricting the purchasers' uses of their copyrighted materials. Try to imagine a time a dozen years in the future if most major reference-book publishers did this...

---
Glenn Tenney
tenney[_at_]netcom.com            Amateur radio: AA6ER
Voice: (415) 574-3420        Fax: (415) 574-0546