Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Washington
I've recently inherited a warehouse and have found a container full of new old stock of licensed goods in bulk packaging. I know that the person storing these had them manufactured and had a license to sell them. Is it legal for me to sell them to a licensed retailer or on an auction site like eBay?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If by "licensed goods" you mean lawfully made copies of copyrighted works, I suggest you take a look at 17 U.S.C. � 109(a), which provides, in part, that "the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord" (see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/109 for the full section).
So, assuming you mean that the copies were made with the permission of the U.S. copyright holder, then the question is whether you own them. You say you inherited the warehouse itself, but you may want to touch base with a lawyer if you are not sure whether you also acquired ownership of the contents. Perhaps you are only warehousing them for the person you say is storing them, and that person is the owner. Only the "owner" of a lawfully made copy, or someone authorized by the owner, is entitled to sell them.
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