My library lends out videos of movies; would it be legal for them to lend out video games?

I'm thinking of donating a good deal to the local library, if it's legal for them to loan them out in the first place. Anyone know the law?My library lends out videos of movies; would it be legal for them to lend out video games?
Legal, yes.



Barry is mistaken about libraries %26amp; videos: libraries can and do buy videos off Amazon and loan them out. Actually at my current library, we usually get them through DeepDiscount.com since the prices are cheaper, but we get them through Amazon on occasion, and yes we just loan them out. It's perfectly legal thanks to first-sale doctrine. We do sometimes pay licensing fees for public performance rights, but never for circulating videos or DVDs to individual users.



Before you donate your video games to the library, ask whether they want them. Unless your library already has a collection of video games, they'll need to decide:

whether a collection of video games fits their mission,

whether there is room in the budget to maintain such a collection,

whether they need to provide games for more than one console,

what kind of physical processing is necessary,

what kind of security is necessary,

what policies are appropriate (loan periods, fines,etc.),

and other issues.



Frankly, many libraries are just going to pass. I'm pretty sure that would be the case at my own library: if we were given a collection of video games we'd probably just put them in the annual book sale. Then again, many libraries -- especially public libraries -- do have circulating collections of video games, and many others are willing to try. To find out how your library feels about it, ask.My library lends out videos of movies; would it be legal for them to lend out video games?
that depends. I'd say probably ok if they are used, but if they are new, they would have to be specifically licensed for that, as the videos are. the library can't just buy them off amazon and then rent them out.



it might vary depending on the game and the specific license you have for it though



best way to find out is to talk to the librarian and ask if they can use them in this way - if they research it and say yes, then great, if no, then find another use for them.