Keywords
Citation
(2002), "Copyright infringement", Interlending & Document Supply, Vol. 30 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilds.2002.12230aab.015
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringementKeywords: Copyright, Document supply, Litigation
In November 2001 two global publishers announced the initiation of litigation against Kessler-Hancock Information Services, Inc., a document delivery service, and its president Brian J. Hancock, for unauthorised photocopying from the publishers' journals for resale to the service's customers. The publishers are Elsevier Science BV/Elsevier Science SA and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The complaint, filed in federal district court in Boston, MA, alleges that Kessler-Hancock solicits and fills orders for copies of copyrighted materials distributed by the publishers without the publishers' authorisation, and even collects purported copyright fees in connection with the copies without returning them to the copyright holders. Both of the publishers are major producers of scientific, technical and medical materials.
The complaint includes counts of false advertising for the ways in which Kessler-Hancock represents its business practices.
The matter is being co-ordinated by Copyright Clearance Center Inc. (CCC), the largest licenser of text reproduction rights in the world and a licensing agent for both publishers. CCC and its participating rights-holders provide licences and permissions to many document delivery services and other users of copyrighted materials. In exchange, copyright royalties are collected and then distributed to the appropriate copyright holders.
Source: CCC press release