The Distribution Right

This lesson provides an introduction to one of the Copyright Act's section 106 exclusive rights, the distribution right. As you will glean from the lesson, the distribution right covers the copyright owner's exclusive right to distribute copies or phonorecords of copyrighted works by means of sale, transfer of ownership, or by rental. In addition, the distribution right creates a statutory right called the right of first publication. This lesson is intended as an introduction to the distribution right; its approach is to review the statutory basis for the distribution right and to review the basis for the right of first publication. This lesson is useful as both an introduction to the exclusive right of distribution, as well as a review.