Copyright defense of publications designed as consumable

[Peter W. Stevens]

Jurisdiction

New York

TOPIC:
Copyright defense for publications designed as consumables (workbooks/assessments)

We publish publications with US Copyrights (1995) that are designed to be one-time use consumables and that is clearly listed on the legal page of each publication. Hundreds of colleges and universities have used them to train tutor employees but have used them repeatedly as textbooks and avoided re-purchasing for over a decade.

We want to know how to defend ourselves by requiring them to stop but their general
counsels ignore our demands. How can we proceed in upholdng our copyright when an entire profession of tutor training employees will not respect our rights and continue to re-use our publications for training tutors and obtaining tutor training certification from
national certification bodies.

We are a small independent publisher and must seek assistance contingent on outcomes of our defense and believe thousands of other institutions are part of this
piracy internationally so the resulting payoff could expand exponentially. Our corporate location is NY but buyers are international.
Can you help direct us to a federal court defense that parallels our problem
Peter W. Stevens, President
Cambridge Stratford, Ltd
www.cambridgestratford.com

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The first thing is to find your company a good copyright attorney in NY. You should have done that before you published the first book.

 

[Tax Counsel]

TOPIC:
Copyright defense for publications designed as consumables (workbooks/assessments)

We publish publications with US Copyrights (1995) that are designed to be one-time use consumables and that is clearly listed on the legal page of each publication.

While you have the right to control reproduction of the materials (i.e. the colleges cannot copy them and distribute those copies without your consent) the college does have the right to reuse the original copy that it obtained. It's no different than a person who buys a book rereading that book a dozen times. The reader of that book has the right one he purchased it to read it as much as he wants or to sell that book to others. He cannot copy it, but he can use and transfer the physical copy of the book that he bought. This is known as the first sale doctrine.

I suggest you review your situation with an attorney who practices in copyright law to go over your options.

 

[welkin]

We publish publications with US Copyrights (1995) that are designed to be one-time use consumables and that is clearly listed on the legal page of each publication

I went to your website and looked around for quite a while and I could not find anything that would form a contract that the workbooks were consumables and could only be used one time . It's not in your descriptions, not on any legal page, and not in your sales form.

To say that the workbooks are consumables and intended for only one use on a page in the publication without any prior notice before they are purchased is The horse has left the barn and this has nothing to do with copyright law or the first sale doctrine.

As TC has pointed out, once they are purchased they can be used over and over again as long as they are not copied. If you were to have proof that the workbooks are being copied that would implicate the copyright law.

Not only should you consult a copyright attorney but also a contract attorney.

 

[zddoodah]

We want to know how to defend ourselves by requiring them to stop

Based on what you've written, you cannot.

How can we proceed in upholdng our copyright when an entire profession of tutor training employees will not respect our rights

What rights of copyright do you think are not being respected? Your complaint seems to be that your book isn't being used as intended, but nothing in the Copyright Act prohibits that. About a month ago, I used a book to kill a bug in my office. Since I'm sure that was not the publisher's intended purpose, do you suppose I failed to respect the publisher's rights?

buyers are international.

Then it's possible that you have recourse under the copyright laws applicable in the foreign country(ies) where the buyer's are located, and you ought to be consulting with attorneys there..

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

To the OP. Should you desire to correct this situation going forward you need to talk to a lawyer about licensing the use of your product not selling it.

 

[welkin]

To the OP. Should you desire to correct this situation going forward you need to talk to a lawyer about licensing the use of your product not selling it.

OP licenses online courses and sells workbooks that are copyright. What is your point?

 

[Zigner]

OP licenses online courses and sells workbooks that are copyright. What is your point?

The POINT is that one can license the workbook instead of selling it.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

OP licenses online courses and sells workbooks that are copyright. What is your point?

Now the OP sells the workbooks. Once sold the buyer can do what they like with them with the exception of selling them.

The OP could license and within the license agreement make them single-use. It wouldn't make it any easier to enforce such a license but it would give the OP a leg to stand on when they try and enforce it.

 

[welkin]

Now the OP sells the workbooks. Once sold the buyer can do what they like with them with the exception of selling them.

That is not correct. They can sell them under the first sale doctrine and they can keep using them over and over again unless the contract for sale says otherwise. They cannot reproduce them. And they cannot sell any reproductions. That would be copyright infringement.

Let's say that an institution buys 100 workbooks for a course they are holding. They provide a separate worksheet for the students to fill in instead of filling out the workbook. Next year they use the same 100 workbooks and do the same thing. No copyright violation there.


What you and Zigner are suggesting is that OP license the use of the books instead of selling them. There may be some valid point to be made. But license agreement for every book shipped and for what duration or quantity is going to be problematic.

The OP could license and within the license agreement make them single-use. It wouldn't make it any easier to enforce such a license but it would give the OP a leg to stand on when they try and enforce it.

So would a sales contract that says the workbooks are single use books without the complications of licenses. OP would need an entire legal department to keep track of the licenses.

 

[Zigner]

So would a sales contract that says the workbooks are single use books without the complications of licenses.

Oh...you are talking about a contractual agreement that limits the use of the book. Like...I don't know...a license.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

hat is not correct. They can sell them under the first sale doctrine and they can keep using them over and over again unless the contract for sale says otherwise. They cannot reproduce them. And they cannot sell any reproductions. That would be copyright infringement.

I mistyped. I meant to write "copy" instead of "sell".