What is the “first sale” doctrine?
Under this doctrine, the owner of a copyright protected work in physical form can lend, resell, or dispose of the item. It is this doctrine that allows libraries to purchase copyrighted material and make it available to faculty, students, and staff, or place it on faculty reserves. It is also this doctrine that allows a professor to place a personal copy of copyrighted material on faculty reserves. The first sale doctrine does not allow for the reproduction, public display, or performance of the work. The first sale doctrine does not apply to copyrighted material available through a licensing arrangement.
First sale is a doctrine in copyright law saying the owner of a particular copy of a copyrighted work has the right to sell, lend, or transfer that copy. In other words, the copyright holder’s rights over a physical copy of a work end with the “first sale.” The doctrine is codified in the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 109. >>top Question: Does the first sale doctrine mean I can re-sell computer software? Answer: Many makers of computer software say that their software is licensed, not sold, because the user breaks a “shrinkwrap license” on the box or clicks through an end-user license agreement (“EULA”) before using the software. The legal rights of the end user may then be limited by the licensing terms, provided that the end user has been contractually bound to those terms. EULAs may attemtp to prohibit modification, reverse engineering, or resale. Courts are still working out the tensions between software licensing and copyright’s first sale and fair use rights.
