Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
theatlantic.com
Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
1–10 of 47 posts
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#2Wouldn't essentially everything be illegal to resell if this was approved?
Couldn't Ford prevent people from selling their used cars because it contains a Ford logo, electronics, and software all of which Ford owns the copyrights to?
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#3So many actions these days can violate copyright law. I really don't bother trying to figure out what may or may not do that.
And I can only think of the absurdness of getting copyright "permission" for each holder for an iPhone, or for any device that has firmware on it.
BTW: Can an attorney possibly answer this: Where is the proof of copy on an Audio CD?
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#4If it becomes illegal, I doubt the US government will have the money to enforce it, and neither will copyright holders.
So don't worry.
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#5> Continuing a long string of similar cases, the Supreme Court will review a New York federal court decision that decided, in short, that the first-sale doctrine does not apply to any copyrighted product manufactured abroad.
I can _kinda_ understand manufacturers being upset about gray imports of products that they specifically don't want sold in the local market, and wont make available themselves.
(eg, "You're selling our widget that was designed to work on 110v to people who use 240v, and we're going to look bad when it blows up. Stop selling it!")
But using legal loopholes and trickery to prevent someone (re)selling the exact same thing you're selling in the same market? That doesn't sound right.
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#6> Almost every product made now has a copyright logo on it. That logo, alone, empowers manufacturers to sue people for copyright infringement for unlawful sales.
Logos are not copyrightable (well, you could copyright an image of one...) but fall under trademark law. I have a hard time trusting an article about this stuff that confuses copyright and trademark law; they're two completely unrelated, different beasts.
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#7> Continuing a long string of similar cases, the Supreme Court will review a New York federal court decision that decided, in short, that the first-sale doctrine does not apply to any copyrighted product manufactured abroad. I can _kinda_ understand manufacturers being upset about gray imports of products that they specifically don't want sold in the local market, and wont make available themselves. (eg, "You're sell…
And it protects customers from being able to buy cheap genuine designer jeans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1261829.stm
Apparently this is good for customers by maintaining the brand value of the expensive Levis they are wearing !
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#8> Almost every product made now has a copyright logo on it. That logo, alone, empowers manufacturers to sue people for copyright infringement for unlawful sales. Logos are not copyrightable (well, you could copyright an image of one...) but fall under trademark law. I have a hard time trusting an article about this stuff that confuses copyright and trademark law; they're two completely unrelated, different beasts.
I believe the author is referring to the copyright symbol (the c with a circle around it). This article could have used more thorough proofreading and editing.
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#9Wouldn't essentially everything be illegal to resell if this was approved? Couldn't Ford prevent people from selling their used cars because it contains a Ford logo, electronics, and software all of which Ford owns the copyrights to?
If at some point Ford decided it was in their interest to restrict sales of used Fords then yes they could.
Although it's likely that high end makers would do so first - a supercar maker might be more interested in protecting it's brand image by keeping broken down versions of it's car off the street.
Ford is more likely to suffer from the anger of departing new buyers than gain from there not being 40year old Ford pickups rusting in fields.
Microsoft has already won a number of cases stopping companies selling unused software licenses. This is actually a big deal if you are a company - if you have $$$$ in MSFT licenses that you have been treating as assets and the court rules that they can't be sold and so have zero value - you might have a lot of auditors and shareholders you have lied to.
Re: Selling a used iPod can violate a copyright law
#10Wouldn't essentially everything be illegal to resell if this was approved? Couldn't Ford prevent people from selling their used cars because it contains a Ford logo, electronics, and software all of which Ford owns the copyrights to?
If at some point Ford decided it was in their interest to restrict sales of used Fords then yes they could. Although it's likely that high end makers would do so first - a supercar maker might be more interested in protecting it's brand image by keeping broken down versions of it's car off the street. Ford is more likely to suffer from the anger of departing new buyers than gain from there not being 40year old Ford p…
How is this possible? From my reading of the article, the suspension of first-sale only applies to goods manufactured abroad. Wouldn't MS software be manufactured in Washington state?