Secondhand MP3 Dealer Redigi Expanding Into Europe... And Tangling With A Whole New Set Of IP Laws
from the used-'licenses,'-anyone? dept
Redigi, the 'used' mp3 dealer, is now sending out invites for its expansion into Europe. While many may question how big the market is for secondhand mp3s, Redigi obviously feels there's more money to made overseas.In the US, Redigi is operating in the shadow of a lawsuit filed by the RIAA (with EMI/Capitol Records taking the lead). The RIAA wanted the company shut down, but the presiding judge refused to grant the injunction, citing concerns about the right of first sale, as well as a lack of "irreparable harm," as claimed by EMI. However, he did note that EMI's arguments were "compelling," which likely means that sooner or later, the RIAA will get its way. (The outcome of Kirtsaeng vs. Wiley will also have some impact this lawsuit, should it reach its conclusion first.)
Over in Europe, Redigi is relying on a ruling against Oracle (who was taking on UsedSoft, a software reseller), which claimed its software couldn't be resold. "Copyright exhaustion" is the key here -- a concept related to the right of first sale -- meaning the copyright holder's control ends once the sale is made. More importantly, the European court declared that the software could be sold even if Oracle's contract with the end user prohibits resale.
Obviously, this doesn't sit well with many rights holders. As we're all too aware, when we buy a digital good, we're usually exchanging our money for a license, rather than something we can resell or transfer or even move from computer to computer. These licenses allow the control to remain with the copyright holder (or the retailer/distributor) for long after the famous "first sale." As Redigi's CEO points out, if you block the customers' right of first sale, then they have vastly overpaid for these licenses.
[M]ost lawful users of music and books have hundreds of dollars of lawfully obtained things on their computers and right now the value of that is zero dollars.Whether or not Redigi will be successful in Europe remains to be seen, but its business model is applying pressure to rights holders and their representatives to define more clearly what they feel customers are entitled to when they purchase a license disguised as a digital download.
Oh, and Redigi's CEO mentions books for a reason. The company is hoping to expand its current offerings from mp3s to ebooks... and video games. Rolling up on Amazon and re-triggering the AAA game developers' distaste for the secondhand market means things could get interesting in a hurry.
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Filed Under: copyright, europe, first sale, mp3s, secondhand sales, used mp3s
Companies: redigi
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All their ideas do is promote piracy even more...
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Yet according to RIAA:
Pirates have zero of dollars of unlawfully obtained things on their computers and right now th value of that is hundredthousands of dollars.
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Legal: Pay hundreds, collection is worth nothing.
Piracy: Pay nothing, collection is worth millions(just not to you).
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Inconceivable!
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From a publisher's perspective
Of course unlike a 'paper' book, which once sold is no longer in possession of the seller, ebooks can simply be easily and identically copied and kept. They can be 'resold' infinite amounts of time by the same person. This then becomes a commercial venture - I've already seen this on Ebay with a couple of my ebooks ('Buy it now - more than 10 available').
So I am definitely concerned about open season on people just making digital copies of my book and reselling it en masse. I mean, I completely accept file sharing - I don't see it as competition or 'lost sales', it's just a bunch of people sharing books with each other with no money changing hands.
However selling more than the one copy originally purchased is a different matter, it's a step too far, and unlike file sharing, is most definitely a lost sale IMO, they are in direct competition, commercially selling my work without my permission and without the legal rights to do so. Selling a single 'second hand' copy - fine, but how do they propose to stop people turning this into a commercial venture? Do sites like redigi require evidence of original purchase?
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But..but..but.. it's the same
Given that infringement is often called theft and that copyright is "definitely" property, there should be no argument about the first sale doctrine among the trolls.
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Re: But..but..but.. it's the same
Very much a case of wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
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Answer: NOTHING !
Now, what if those files are on an OOP Piece of Vinyl ?
Answer: Tons and tons of Cash.
Same thing for Physical Books, ETC.
I am a Collector and do own a Ton of Rare Books.All will be in my Will to my Son.
Over 16 Grand in Rare Books in my Library.
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/dodgy spanish accent
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Re: Re: From a publisher's perspective
My concern is when this is scaled up and someone decides to just keep on selling that book by continually making copies, selling it thousands of times. I do see this as lost sales, as this has moved to large scale commercial infringement - this is not fluffy file sharing, where most files are downloaded by people who have no intention of purchasing in the first place.
With tangible goods, once you've sold something, it's no longer in your possession. Not so with digital goods, so IMO the law has to recognise that - certainly in this instance with the business model redigi is adopting.
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Planet Earth
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We're talking about digital files; no measurable amount of resources are wasted.
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