Jessica wrote: I don't believe there will be any change in the US but since most academic publishers make the overwhelming majority of their sales in financial terms in US, Canada, Europe and Australia, I suspect they will either stop selling the lower priced versions in Asia, Africa etc or price them at the same level as the US which would have the same effect.
Or-textbook companies will go to licensing online versions, or forcing buyers to sign contracts negating first sale. NB as I understand it the copies Kirtsaeng resold were in fact inferior in many ways to what was sold in America-cheaper paper, no color pictures etc. So maybe the companies will become aware of a market for cheaper textbooks (hah!). I think it was actually a good case because it was so clear what the issues were-that it was just untenable to abrogate first sale on the grounds of where an item is made in a global economy, and that this in turn causes problems for rights owners. The item in question was a textbook, which is (a) the kind of item copyright law is supposed to protect, as opposed to shampoo labels or high-end Swiss watches, and (b) something with a big global market, not a luxury item but something many med students etc. have to have. As Kagan's alternate opinion says, and also the district appeals court's main opinion), the law needs to be rewritten in some clear way that allows a distinction between authorized and unauthorized imports. (I think Kagan was saying that if the court had decided differently on the Lanza case, involving "gray market" shampoos with copyrighted labels, there would have been a non-destructive way to decide against Kirtsaeng.) Of course, for the law to be rewritten we would need a legislature.... Judy Shoaf
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
