ResourceBlog Article: Library Copyright Alliance Files Friend of the Court Brief: Costco v. Omega; May Threaten Libraries’ Lending Rights

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Thursday, 8th July 2010

Library Copyright Alliance Files Friend of the Court Brief: Costco v. Omega; May Threaten Libraries’ Lending Rights

From the Announcement (2 pages: PDF):

The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA) – comprised of the American Library Association (ALA), the Association for College & Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Association for Research Libraries (ARL) – today filed an amicus curiae brief (pdf) with the Supreme Court of the United States in support of petitioner Costco Wholesale Corporation in Costco v. Omega.

Omega, a luxury watch manufacturer, claims Costco infringed its copyrights by importing authentic Omega watches from abroad rather than buying them from the U.S. distributer at a higher price. The LCA believes this case could diminish the legal provision that allows libraries to lend books.

The “first-sale doctrine” is the exception to the Copyright Act that allows any purchaser of a legal copy of a book or other copyrighted work to sell or lend that copy. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the first-sale doctrine applied only to copies manufactured in the United States.

In its friend of the court brief, the LCA asks the Supreme Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision and apply the first-sale doctrine to all copies manufactured with the lawful authorization of the holder of a work’s U.S. copyright.

Access the Complete News Release and Summary

Read the Full Text of the Amicus Curiae Brief (49 pages; PDF)

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