LISNews: Librarian News

At first blush, Costco Wholesale Corp v. Omega, S.A., which the U.S. Supreme Court last week agreed to hear, doesn't involve the kind of cutting-edge issues that copyright lawyers usually grapple with in the digital age. So why is the Court willing to consider a dispute between a company that makes fancy watches and a company that imports and resells them? It sounds like the kind of lawsuit that should have been resolved 200 years ago.

What's at stake in these disputes is the ability of resellers large (Costco) and small (Liu) to offer legitimate, non-pirated versions of copyrighted goods to U.S. consumers at prices that undercut those charged by the copyright holders—something that's possible thanks to the robust secondary markets provided by major Internet retailers such as eBay and Amazon.

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Amazon has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Seattle against the North Carolina Department of Revenue charging that its demand that Amazon turnover the names and addresses of all residents who bought anything from the e-tailer since 2003 is an invasion of privacy and a violation of the First Amendment. The request by North Carolina is part of that state's efforts to collect sales tax on items purchased by North Carolina residents from Amazon. In the complaint, Amazon also said North Carolina is demanding it turnover records of what each customer purchased and how much they paid.

When North Carolina first announced its plans to collect sales tax from online retailers, Amazon closed down the affiliates program in the state, arguing that without that program the state had no nexus to collect sales tax.

Publishers Weekly reports.

Visual Artists to Sue Google Over Vast Library Project As Google awaits approval of a controversial settlement with authors and book publishers, the company’s plan to create an immense digital library and bookstore may face yet another hurdle.
THanks to Bruce for the link!

Former law librarian sues W.Va. Supreme Court
A former Cabell County Circuit Court law librarian has filed a federal racial discrimination lawsuit against the state Supreme Court. Elsibeth McCoy's suit also names the Cabell County Courthouse's administration. McCoy says in her civil complaint that she was harassed because of her race and in retaliation for complaining about nepotism in the court system.