Back in the wonder years of 2007, Seattle resident Troy Augusto enjoyed shopping at used music stores and second-hand shops, where he would buy shitty music for cheap prices and then turn around to sell the items on eBay. Nothing wrong with that, right? I’m sure you’ve all bought some used CDs on eBay.
Well, Universal Music Group (UMG) thinks otherwise, and it especially takes offense to Augusto’s practice of reselling promotional CDs (the type with that annoying “promotional use only, not for sale” label on the front). UMG believes that those labels have higher legal standing and outweigh Augusto’s (or any US citizen’s) “first sale” rights, and thus promptly sued Augusto.
Let’s take an educational detour and learn a little bit about “first sale” legality. According to an excellent and riveting piece of writing found in section 109 of The Copyright Act, the law states that once you legally own a lawfully-made piece of media (CD, book, or DVD), you can sell it, give it away, lend it to a friend, or even do nothing with it, and you never have to ask for permission from the copyright holder. In other words: You buy it, you own it — it’s yours, dude.
Of course, a giant conglomerate like UMG doesn’t like pinko-commie bullshit like that, because then all the NEW product it releases has to compete with all the OLD product being sold for reasonable prices at local shops or sold online without disgruntled record/book store types grumbling at your idiot selections. So it sues people instead.
The good news? Mr. Augusto won (YAY!). But then UMG was all “not yet you commie-pinko jerk” and appealed the ruling. Damn appeals! Why can’t it just help the common man and reformed criminals! Accordingly, the 9th Circuit of the US Court of Appeals will be listening to oral arguments this Monday, the 7th of June.
This is where the EFF comes in. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization of lawyer types dedicated to “champion(ing) the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights,” has taken on the case in support of Mr. Augusto. The EFF, alongside legal-counsel Joseph C. Gratz of the San Francisco law firm Durie Tangri LLP, will argue the case with the goal of, according to the EFF, “urging the court to uphold the ‘first sale’ principle against self-serving ‘not for resale’ labels on compact discs.”
Good luck you pinko-commie heroes!
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org
• Official EFF press-release: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/06/01
• UMG vs. Augusto: http://www.eff.org/cases/umg-v-augusto
