---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 20:16:21 +0000
From: efennessy@ATT.NET
Subject: Re: Donations of older personal copies (Simone Jerome)

This question of older journals being given to a library
is getting far afield. First: someone inquired about
accepting these journals and putting them on the shelf
for public/client use. What is the problem here? Unless
you, as a library, are turning around, making copies for
document delivery or selling the copies, simply putting
those copies on the shelf doesn't seem illegal to me. If
you are making copies beyond a copy for yourself as an
individual, then that can be a problem since "Fair Use"
doesn't include making copies for others.

Second: Ms. Jerome in Liege brings up the question
of "discriminatory pricing" when a rightsholder charges
different customers different prices. Isn't this done
all the time? Whether you purchase one pencil or a
gross, you don't expect to pay the same per unit price
if you purchase in quantity or you purchase intending to
offer access to many clients rather than just to
yourself as an individual?

Third: There is another issue being brought
up..whether "to extend vendor rights to eternity." This
was raised because some rightsholders may put
restrictions on your subsequent donation of the journal
to others. ACS was mentioned here. Whatever agreement
you make with a rightsholder is your business. Your use
of copyrighted materials however is controlled by the
Copyright provisions existing at the time of purchase.
You can use the journal for private use, make a copy for
your own research, or give it away to a library. After
you get rid of the journal the new holder of the journal
has to observe copyright until the copyright for that
journal, or article, expires. Certainly not until all of
eternity.

Eamon T. Fennessy, CEO
The Copyright Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 5496
Beverly Farms, MA 01915

Phone & FAX (978) 927 9936
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 17:27:55 +0100
> From: Simone JEROME <sjerome@ULG.AC.BE>
> Subject: Re: Donations of older personal copies (Barbara Rehkop)
>
> A 09:52 26/10/01 -0400, vous avez écrit :
> >Would somebody please speak to copyright issues in accepting donations?
> >We have been advised (in a class on copyright) that since individuals did
> >not pay the (greater) library price for their subscription, we should not
> >make donated copies available to the public.
>
> Just two questions.
> First, apart for the journals of professional societies which I understand
> are part of a membership, is the discriminatory rate institutional/individual
> legal for a commercial publication ? Is the individual rate not equivalent
> to dumping as the operational costs of publishing are covered by
> institutional subscriptions only and the product is exactely the same, sold
> at the same time
> and not in extra sales ?
>
> Second, I do not understand what the fact to offer an issue for reading
> in a library room not for profit has to do with copyright. Copyright begins
> with the copy, had the journal been bought or donated. I think that the
> issue here is not copyright but contract law, no ? It is obvious for
> societies journals where as a society's member, you agree to its rules and
> among them
> not to give it to the library at least for a period of time (five years for
> ACS for instance). In the case of a commercial journal, it depends on the
> conditions of the vendor. But as journals contain more or less transient
> information, is it reasonnable to extend the vendor rights to eternity ?
>
> Can specialists comment on what I mean only remarks of common sense ?
>
> Thank you.
>
>
>
>
>
> Simone JEROME, Librarian
> University of Liege
> Institute of Chemistry B6
> 4000 Sart Tilman (Liege 1)
> BELGIUM
>
> email address : sjerome@ulg.ac.be
> URL : http://www.ulg.ac.be/libnet/ud18.htm