Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

Dear Attorney,

This question essentially concerns something that occurred in Pennsylvania.

I bought a book online that I did not know was given to a professor for free. I noticed from documents that came with the book that the professor asked for it to be sent to her. Is this book called "stolen property"? By this I mean that was there a condition that it not be sold? If so, as an Orthodox Jew, Rabbi Mordechai Shuchatowitz told me it is forbidden to use, and I'd be forced to get my money back from either the university or the website. I guess I also need to know what to do with the book from a legal perspective, such as sending it anonymously back to the publisher (who also is the copyright holder).

I also need to know if legally I'm forbidden from using it. That may affect Jewish law. (I'd have to ask the rabbi if it would affect the Jewish law in this case. I know by copyright law it does.)

Yaakov


Asked on 2/21/10, 11:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

I am not Jewish, but I can say this... the book certainly is not stolen. Teachers are often given copies of texts to review, hoping they will specify the text for use in a class, or sometimes as a courtesy when teaching a course with that book. I have not seen a notice form a publisher stating that the book was not for re-sale, and though it is foreseeable that a publisher might send a book with a "not for resale" notice, you have no way of finding that out. However, the seller of the book would not remove only remove a notice saying the book was not for re-sale, and leave the paperwork indicating it was given free to someone. That makes no sense. Even if the book was purchased from the person who sold it, or it was originally not intended for re-sale, as the book is not stolen, you therefore should be allowed to use it.

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Answered on 2/26/10, 12:43 pm


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