3 ms·

Qs1 :What about when authors give out free pdf copies of books in advance requesting that they not be circulated? Qs 2: Does that mean the UMG has lost copyrig

by jayzee 16y ago

Qs1 :What about when authors give out free pdf copies of books in advance requesting that they not be circulated? Qs 2: Does that mean the UMG has lost copyright to songs on those CDs? Can the dude now make copies of the songs and sell them? I dont understand how the medium gets ties to the copyright

jbri 16y ago
This is primarily about what's known as "first-sale doctrine". Basically, if the copyright owner gives you a legitimate copy of a work, you are free to pass on or resell that particular copy without needing to ask permission from the copyright owner. So no, you're not allowed to make copies of the disks and sell them, but if you buy a stack of 50 promo disks second-hand, you can resell all 50 of them. I'm not sure how it works with purely digital goods, but presumably (IANAL) you'd be in the clear if you deleted "your" copy when you passed it on to someone else.
jrockway 16y ago
Qs1: What about when authors give out free pdf copies of books in advance requesting that they not be circulated? To legally enforce this condition, they need to have a contract signed. No contract, no free copy.
URSpider94 16y ago
On Q2, "copyright", quite literally, means having the right to control the making of copies. In other words, the person who holds copyright dictates how and when new copies of the work can be created. However, the first sale doctrine essentially says that once any copies leave the control of the copyright holder (ie they are sold or given away), then ownership -of those copies- becomes a legally protected property right that can be further transferred without consulting with the copyright holder (by transferring the physical object holding the data). What makes a given copy of the CD legitimate is that it was made with permission of the copyright holder. Any future owners can buy, sell or give away that CD as they desire, but they can't make further copies without express permission. This is, in part, why the EFF and others get so worked up over EULA's, because they are an attempt by content creators to keep all of their rights under copyright while not being subject to first sale.
rhizome 16y ago
Q2: No. The mechanical royalties have already been paid based on the number of CDs pressed, which is a known quantity and likely negotiated in bulk anyway. This doesn't change (and neither does copyright ownership) when someone receives a CD, nor when that person sells it, which is what was decided here. Making copies would imply further use of the mechanical right mentioned above, and is then illegal due to non-payment of further royalties based on the number of further copies made. The mechanical right is compulsory with a rate set by law, and so in exchange for the other powers of copyright going to the owner(s), any of us little people are allowed to pay money to start our own K-Tel empire. Currently this is ~US$0.02/min (~$1.50 per CD).

by jayzee 16y ago

jbri 16y ago

This is primarily about what's known as "first-sale doctrine". Basically, if the copyright owner gives you a legitimate copy of a work, you are free to pass on or resell that particular copy without needing to ask permission from the copyright owner. So no, you're not allowed to make copies of the disks and sell them, but if you buy a stack of 50 promo disks second-hand, you can resell all 50 of them. I'm not sure how it works with purely digital goods, but presumably (IANAL) you'd be in the clear if you deleted "your" copy when you passed it on to someone else.

jrockway 16y ago

Qs1: What about when authors give out free pdf copies of books in advance requesting that they not be circulated? To legally enforce this condition, they need to have a contract signed. No contract, no free copy.

URSpider94 16y ago

On Q2, "copyright", quite literally, means having the right to control the making of copies. In other words, the person who holds copyright dictates how and when new copies of the work can be created. However, the first sale doctrine essentially says that once any copies leave the control of the copyright holder (ie they are sold or given away), then ownership -of those copies- becomes a legally protected property right that can be further transferred without consulting with the copyright holder (by transferring the physical object holding the data). What makes a given copy of the CD legitimate is that it was made with permission of the copyright holder. Any future owners can buy, sell or give away that CD as they desire, but they can't make further copies without express permission. This is, in part, why the EFF and others get so worked up over EULA's, because they are an attempt by content creators to keep all of their rights under copyright while not being subject to first sale.

rhizome 16y ago

Q2: No. The mechanical royalties have already been paid based on the number of CDs pressed, which is a known quantity and likely negotiated in bulk anyway. This doesn't change (and neither does copyright ownership) when someone receives a CD, nor when that person sells it, which is what was decided here. Making copies would imply further use of the mechanical right mentioned above, and is then illegal due to non-payment of further royalties based on the number of further copies made. The mechanical right is compulsory with a rate set by law, and so in exchange for the other powers of copyright going to the owner(s), any of us little people are allowed to pay money to start our own K-Tel empire. Currently this is ~US$0.02/min (~$1.50 per CD).