# Copyright and the First Sale Doctrine

- Link: https://www.lumlawgroup.com/copyright-and-the-first-sale-doctrine/
- Published: 2020-01-10T11:18:16-08:00
- Author: Albert J Lum

With the explosion of the Internet and the different media outlets, such as Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tik-Tok, just to name a few, the issues surrounding
copyright ownership and rights have come to the forefront. But these also only reflect
long time issues regarding copyright ownership. One such issue is what the doctrine
of First Sale.

First, one who creates an original piece of art, such as a photograph, painting 
or statute, or a story or book, owns a copyright to that work. It is created upon
the creation of the work. Unless the individual specifically sells the copyright
rights to someone, only that individual has a right to make copies of his work. 
Most people have a general understanding of this.

Where things can get confusing sometimes is when an individual purchases a book,
or a poster, or a piece of art. The question then becomes, what can he do with that
piece of work? The obvious answer is that if he purchased that item, whether it 
is a book, poster or piece of art, he can do whatever he wants with it. Display 
it in his office, at his home, carry it around in his car and show it to his friends
wherever he goes. This is covered in copyright law by what we call, the “First Sale”
doctrine. Essentially, the holder of the purchased copy of a copyrighted work has
the right to do anything he wants with that copy. However, that’s where his rights
end as to the copyrighted work.

In one instance, a client has a poster that he used in his own artwork. His use 
of the poster in his own artwork is perfectly acceptable. He can sell the artwork
as well. However, he cannot take photos of the artwork and then display that artwork
on flyers or on his website. This is because his rights do not expand to displays
of the poster. He does not have the right to advertise the copyrighted work. And
in fact, he has repurposed the copyrighted work, or created what is called a “derivative”
work. Without authorization, or proof that he purchased the copyright to the artwork,
he cannot therefore otherwise display copies of his artwork in any other medium.

So, be careful what you do with Artwork. But what happens if someone posts a copyrighted
work on Instagram and hashtags you on Instagram? And you want to repost it? That
is a question for our next blog.