Legal Definitions - lending right

A lending right is a specific aspect of copyright law that grants creators or copyright holders the authority to control how copies of their works are made available to the public for temporary use, typically without a direct fee charged to the end-user for that temporary use. This right allows copyright owners to receive compensation or exert control when their works are borrowed from institutions like public libraries, even after the original physical or digital copy has been sold or licensed to that institution.

This right is distinct from the "first sale doctrine" (or "exhaustion of rights"), which generally allows the purchaser of a copyrighted item to resell or give away that specific item. The lending right, however, focuses on the act of *lending* to the public for temporary use, recognizing that such widespread temporary access can impact the market for new sales.

• Example 1: Public Library Books

  A best-selling author's new novel is purchased by a public library. The library then makes this physical book available for its patrons to borrow for free for a period of two to three weeks. Under a system that recognizes lending rights, the author or publisher might receive a small payment each time the book is borrowed, or the library might pay a special licensing fee that accounts for the right to lend the book multiple times. This illustrates the lending right because the author maintains control and potentially receives compensation for the *temporary public use* of their work, even after the initial sale of the book to the library, and the end-user (the patron) does not pay for the temporary use.

• Example 2: Lending of DVDs or CDs by Institutions

  A university library acquires a DVD copy of a critically acclaimed documentary film. Students and faculty can then borrow this DVD for a limited time without charge. In jurisdictions where lending rights are recognized, the film studio or the documentary's creators would have the right to control this public lending activity and could be entitled to compensation for each loan. This demonstrates the lending right as it applies to other forms of media, where the copyright holder can control and be compensated for the *temporary, free-to-user* access provided by an institution, even though the institution purchased the physical media.

• Example 3: Digital E-book and Audiobook Lending

  A popular author's e-book is made available through a public library's digital lending platform. Patrons can "borrow" the e-book for a set period, after which it automatically becomes inaccessible on their device, all without a direct fee. Here, the lending right is often implemented through specific licensing agreements between publishers and library platforms. These agreements might stipulate that the library pays a higher price for the e-book license than a consumer would, or that the license permits a limited number of loans, or even a payment per loan. This shows the application of the lending right in the digital realm, where the copyright owner controls the *temporary public access* to their digital work and receives compensation for it, even though no physical item changes hands and the end-user pays nothing for the temporary access.