The First Sale Doctrine (Reprise) (Section 109)
Section 109 of the Copyright Act—the First Sale Doctrine—permits libraries to lend their materials. We discussed this earlier in chapter two, but let’s visit section 109 again in the context of digital information.
Lending Software
6.3. Lending Software and
Sound Recordings
- May not lend for direct or indirect commercial advantage
But
- Nonprofit library or educational institution may lend
- To another educational institution
- To faculty, staff, or students
- For-profit entity may lend internally
- Include copyright notice for software
Remember that the copyright owner has the right to copy, to publicly distribute, and to publicly display the copyrighted work. The Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990[1] amended section 109 to prohibit the owner of a copy of computer software from lending that copy for a purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage. The prohibition does not, however, bar a non-profit library or a non-profit educational institution from lending software to another educational institution, or to faculty, staff or students, so long as the software has the requisite notice prescribed by the Register of Copyrights.[2] Affix the notice on the computer disk or its container, whether it is a stand-alone product or if the software comes with a book.
