Are we about to see the demise of the lack of a first sale doctrine on
digital files? Although ReDigi is still locked in a US court case with Capitol
records accused of copyright infringement they now plan to bring their
service to Europe. Amazon is releasing its AutoRip service which gives buyers
of the physical they can resell and a digital copy for life in the cloud.
Others a queued up watching as many start to push the boundaries on digital
media, the right to resell and the whole question of the licence you get when
you buy digital media.
ReDigi move to Europe is within the next quarter and is not just about
music files but also ebooks and potentially video, games and software. This
means that publishers who may have been watching the music industry from the
sidelines are now potential in the arena alongside them on this one in Europe.
Last year in a EU court ruling the door was opened for the resale o
media file to be fully tested. In a case between UsedSoft and Oracle, the EU
court stated that the UsedSoft service could enable the resell of Oracle
software and that the copyright owner’s rights could not prohibit the resale by
its customers. Many ignored the ruling thinking it only was about software, but
it wasn’t and its now threatening to come home in the shape of Redigi. If the
services takes hold in Europe it could itself impact the US and there would
appear to be no reason why consumers would not embrace the service.
Redigi in effect broker the resale of digital files for a reduced price
and so create a second hand, or used media market. ReDigi only allows people to
sell music files they have legally purchased and scans users’ computers and
devices for illicit files and requests them to be deleted. Redigi recognise
that a digital file can be copied and have built their service on moving the
digital file to their servers and removing it from the seller’s system. The
buyer retrieves the file from Redigi.
ReDigi also has enabled artists to register with its site and receive
20% royalty on sales through its platform.
The objections from the industry are based around the lack of ‘first
sale doctrine’ on digital product and that the file is always ‘mint’. The fear
of piracy drives copyright owners to the barricades whilst the service itself
drives consumers to challenge them. This Mexican stand-off often
overrules the need to find a solution that works for all. Some would suggest
that the visibility of the dual standards being adopted between physical and
digital rights themselves will generate more piracy than the service itself!
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