[Publib] audio books and legal questions

[Edward Elsner]

Working with small public libraries, I have recommended purchasing retail copies of audio books instead of those from services offering replacement disks.  The majority of audio books out of circulation are simply the ones a person checks out and never returns.  No benefit in these cases if you can get a replacement disk.  The few audio books that end up with a lost disk or a disk damaged beyond repair (I've used Disc-Go-Pod+ from www.discgotech.com) we simply purchase a replacement copy of the audio book for those still in high demand.  At retail prices we can purchase two or three copies for the cost of one copy from a service offering replacement disks.

It is debatable whether you can make a copy of a missing disk if there is no way to purchase that one disk out of an audio book set.  There is no legal case setting precedent in this situation.  It may be covered by fair use.

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. 

Edward Elsner
Elsner Library Consulting
810-423-0579



--- On Fri, 6/26/09, Christopher F. Bowen <cbowen at downersgrovelibrary.org> wrote:

> From: Christopher F. Bowen <cbowen at downersgrovelibrary.org>
> Subject: [Publib] audio books and legal questions
> To: "'publib at webjunction.org'" <publib at webjunction.org>
> Date: Friday, June 26, 2009, 12:28 PM
> The usual, I am not an attorney,
> but... disclaimer. 
> 
> Some time ago we confirmed that maintaining backup copies
> of CDs that come as inserts in print books (such as computer
> how to) is OK. However, I am pretty sure that using one
> format (CD) to create a circulating copy of another format
> (MP3) goes way beyond what is permitted for an archival
> copy.
> 
> And by the way, we only buy books on CD from vendors who
> provide replacement copies. Getting a replacement of the
> original for 5 or 6 bucks is a whole lot easier than copying
> every CD in every book and housing a gazillion copies, many
> of which you may never actually use.
> 
> 
> Christopher F. Bowen
> Library Director
> Downers Grove Public Library
> 1050 Curtiss Street
> Downers Grove, IL 60515-4606
> 630-963-2595
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Joshua J. Carlson <jcarlson at midyork.org>wrote:
> 
> >  A sales rep recently suggested the following to
> me, and I?d like to know
> > your opinion on the legality:
> >
> >
> >
> > Background: I was asking about Playaways.
> >
> >
> >
> > He said that we are allowed to keep 1 backup on CD of
> our audiobooks
> > legally (?).  
> 
> 
> 
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