books on tape

My friendly neighborhood national video rental chain rents books on tape. Is this legal?

I assume the question boils down to this: does section 109(b) of the Act preclude rental of all sound recordings, or just sound recordings containing music?

The relevant language reads:

"unless authorized by the owners of copyrigh in the sound recording or
the owner of copyright in a computer program, and in the case of a sound recording in the musical works embodied therein, neither the owner of a particular phonorecord nor any person in possession of a particular copy of a computer program may [rent it, with specified exceptions not relevant here]."

I read this language as applying to all sound recordings, though one might I suppose take the position that the requirement for additional permission from the owners of music copyrights limits the statute to just musical sound recordings. [Nothing in the definition of
"phonorecord" or "sound recording" indicates that they are limited to
musical works].

What am I missing here?

Mark Lemley
Assistant Professor, University of Texas School of Law Of Counsel, Fish & Richardson, P.C.
mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu

You can find a list of my articles and books, and information on how to obtain them, at http://www.law.utexas.edu/lemley/pubs.htm

For information on the Intellectual Property program at UT, see http://www.utexas.edu/law/intelprop/ Received on Thu Jun 19 1997 - 19:14:43 GMT