Great Minds Don't Always Think Alike: License Limitations Must Be Explicit

In addressing whether a non-exclusive copyright licensee was permitted to use a commercial printing service in furtherance of its "non-commercial" rights granted by a public license, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12(b)(6) dismissal, explaining that principles of agency law require express prohibitions in a license in order to restrict a non-exclusive licensee's use of commercial services in the exercise of its license. Great Minds v. FedEx Office and Print Services Inc., Case No. 17-808-cv (2d Cir., Mar. 21, 2018) (Carney, J).

Great Minds offers royalty-free licenses of its education materials to the public for non-commercial purposes. Great Minds asserts that its licenses should be read as including an explicit limitation against the employment of commercial print shops by the non-commercial licensees. Instead, Great Minds requires any commercial actor (e.g., a commercial print shop) to seek its own negotiated license.