Re: Another Section 108 question

From: Laura N. Gasaway <unclng[_at_]email.unc.edu>
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 12:04:43 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)

On Fri, 13 Mar 1998, Laureen C. Urquiaga <laurie_urquiaga[_at_]byu.edu> wrote:
>
> I am a librarian with a new assignment to inaugurate a copyright
> permissions office, and so I am often asked questions about copyright
> issues.
>
> I have a question about 108(e)... are there any guidelines or cases
> indicating what constitutes a "reasonable investigation" or a "fair
> price?" The Library's Copy Center is drafting a new policy document
> regarding patron requests for copies of entire works.
>
> On the first question, if we search _Books in Print_ to insure that the
> work in question IS out-of-print, and then search the catalogs of the
> out-of-print and second-hand bookdealers with which we have regular
> contact (upwards of a dozen dealers), could that be defended as a
> reasonable search?
>
> And what is a "fair price?" Obviously, someone with a pristine copy of
> a Gutenberg Bible could probably ask any price they wanted. But what
> about, say, an obscure work of fiction published in the 1940s or 1950s?
> Would 10 times the original value be considered a fair price? What
> about 20 or 50 times the original value? Assume that there is not a
> great demand for this particular work. Is there a general rule (or
> range) for fair pricing that could be included in such a policy?
>
> TIA for any insight into these questions.

Laureen,

     The legislative history provides some help on what is a reasonable investigation. There are also two published definitions of fair price. One from the AAP and one from the ALA.

     I will send them to you if you will provide your fax number. (The one in your signature line does not show up for me).

Lolly

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Laura N. Gasaway			Phone:  919-962-1049
Director of the Law Library &
	Professor of Law		Fax:	919-962-1193
CB # 3385
University of North Carolina		e-mail: laura_gasaway[_at_]unc.edu

Chapel Hill, NC 27599 Received on Mon Mar 16 1998 - 17:11:56 GMT