Kinko's settles suit with group for $1.9M

Kinko's Graphics Corporation agreed last week to pay a group of publishers $1.9 million, finally settling a three-year-old lawsuit against the bulkpack distributor which has already resulted in higher bulkpack prices. In the settlement, the corporation agreed not to appeal a March 28 court decision which rejected Kinko's claim that photocopying excerpts of copyrighted materials for use in bulkpacks was necessary for educational purposes. Kinko's has two stores in the University City area and many professors use these and other copy stores to provide primary and supplementary readings for their classes. The final settlement, however, should not have any further impact on the rising price of bulkpacks, which had already been inflated by the March decision, a spokesperson for the Association of American Publishers said yesterday. In the ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Constance Motley said the copier's rationale that bulkpacks fall under the "fair use clause" of 1976 copyright laws was invalid. According to the specific terms set by the October 16 settlement, Kinko's is barred from copying more than one page of material for bulkpacks to be sold to college students unless it has obtained the copyright owner's written permission. Officials at Kinko's headquarters in Ventura, Calif. could not be reached for comment yesterday. The ruling will effectively force copy stores which had been making bulkpacks without the permission of the publisher to absorb the costs or be forced to charge students added royalties, said Kathlene Carg, AAP assistant to the director of copyrights. She added that copy shops competing with others which are making illegal bulkpacks, students and professors have turned in "a couple hundred." Carg said she was not aware of any shops in the University area that have been exposed for producing illegal bulkpacks in recent months. Preparation of bulkpacks for many classes have been delayed considerably and prices have gone up to as much as 50 cents a page. Local copy centers said last month that they have developed elaborate systems to deal with the March regulations. For example, Kinko's has established "blanket agreements" for 800 book titles and over 1000 journals, which allow them to bypass permission requests for those documents.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.