Also known as: reasonable prices · fair price
Written by attorneys — see sources below.
A price that is fair and appropriate under the circumstances, supplied by law or market standards to fill an open price term when the parties intend a contract but have not agreed on price. The price equals market value at the time for delivery unless the parties have otherwise agreed on a method of determination.
Noon Wind emailed Horizon Fuel requesting panels for its next-quarter installations and attached a price sheet. Horizon Fuel replied that it could supply the panels but noted possible market adjustments. Horizon Fuel shipped batches that Noon Wind installed and paid for at the listed rates. When the parties later could not agree on price for remaining shipments, a court supplies the reasonable price at delivery to preserve the contract.
Rocky Mountain Mining contracted to sell specialized mining equipment to Regal Apparel. Regal Apparel accepted the goods but later refused to pay the price. Rocky Mountain Mining could not resell the custom equipment after reasonable efforts. The seller recovers the contract price because the circumstances indicate that resale at a reasonable price would be unavailing.
A university library seeks to reproduce a published scholarly work during the final twenty years of its copyright term. The work is not being commercially exploited and no further copies are available. The library may make the reproduction for preservation purposes because the statute permits it when copies are unavailable at a reasonable price.
In 1998 Congress enacted the Copyright Term Extension Act, which extended the duration of all federal copyrights by twenty years. For works created by identified natural persons the new term runs from creation until seventy years after the author's death. For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire the term is ninety-five years from publication or one hundred twenty years from creation, whichever expires first. The statute applied these extended terms both to copyrights already in existence and to works created after its effective date. Petitioners are individuals and businesses whose products or services build on copyrighted works that have gone into the public domain. They filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking a declaration that the extension of existing copyrights exceeded Congress's power under the Copyright Clause and violated the First Amendment. On cross-motions for judgment on the pleadings the district court entered judgment for the Attorney General. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed. A majority of the panel upheld the statute against both challenges, while Judge Sentelle dissented in part on the Copyright Clause issue. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to address whether the extension of existing copyrights exceeds Congress's power under the Copyright Clause and whether the extension violates the First Amendment.
View caseUCC section 2-305 supplies a reasonable price when the parties intend a contract for the sale of goods even though the price is unsettled. This occurs if nothing is said as to price, the price is left to later agreement and the parties fail to agree, or an agreed third-party standard is not fixed. The price is measured at the time for delivery.
Supporting sources
An open price term does not prevent contract formation if the parties intend to be bound. UCC section 2-305 fills the gap with a reasonable price at delivery. Courts look to course of performance and market value to determine that price.
When a price left to be fixed otherwise than by agreement fails through the fault of one party, the other may treat the contract as cancelled or fix a reasonable price. The innocent party may choose either remedy.
Supporting sources
…scholarship, or research" if the work is not already being exploited commercially and further copies are unavailable at a reasonable price. 17 U.S.C. § 108(h); see Brief for Respondent 36. Second, Title II of the CTEA, known as the Fairness in Music Licensing Act of 1998, exempts small businesses, restaurants, and like…