LSAC's ownership of PTs and the First Sale Doctrine

alu6anka

I am surprised to learn that we have a number of limitations on how we can use the purchased PTs from LSAC. Basically, no copying, no reselling, etc. Have anyone considered the first sale doctrine for copyrighted material. "The first sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, display or otherwise dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner." So, I am curious why this doctrine does not apply in the context of the Practice Tests!?

Accounts Playable

@alu6anka said:
purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder

If you purchased the PDFs from somewhere, those should be yours forever.

However, the LSAC licensed out the PDFs to LSAT prep firms, but then (to my understanding) decided to increase the costs prohibitively. There is no true ban, but rather, extremely costly terms that the LSAC knew would create an effective ban.


*Edit: This is my understanding of what happened, and of course, IANAL (yet lol); so if I'm wrong, tell me.

Sprinkles

IANAL

Slowly but surely lol @"Accounts Playable"