Basic Books v. Kinko’s Graphics Corp.
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
758 F. Supp. 1522 (1991)
- Written by Jennifer Flinn, JD
Facts
Kinko’s Graphics Corp. (Kinko’s) (defendant) was a for-profit corporation in the business of providing photocopying services to the public. Kinko’s had approximately 200 stores nationwide. Kinko’s photocopied excerpts from books chosen by college professors for use in their classes and compiled those excerpts into course packets that it sold to college students. Kinko’s did not provide any commentary or critique of the excerpts in its packets. It simply photocopied the excerpts and sold the packets to students for profit. Kinko’s did not seek permission from the publishers of the books prior to photocopying them. Students who purchased the packets for particular classes were not required to purchase the full books. The packets were compiled based on each professor’s requirements for each class. The book publishers (plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit against Kinko’s for copyright infringement in violation of the Copyright Act of 1976. Kinko’s admitted that it had photocopied the excerpts without permission but argued, among other things, that its use of the excerpts was a fair use as defined by the Copyright Act of 1976.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Motley, J.)
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