TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Who Owns the Music?

Re: Who Owns the Music?

Gordon Burditt (gordonb.2asgo@burditt.org)
Sat, 03 Dec 2005 07:02:37 -0000

> The recent discussions about Sony led to some interesting discussions
> among my colleagues about the used CD market:

I have a number of floppy disks labelled "Sony". Do I have to worry
about rootkits? Actually, they may have been purchased before the
invention of rootkits.

> - if I buy a new CD, I am presumably entitled to record it for local
> (computer/IPOD/backup/whatever) use. If I do that, am I (legally or
> otherwise) prohibited from reselling or giving away the CD?

Yes you are prohibited from reselling it or giving away the original,
unless you include all your copies in the sale, or destroy them.

> There is a huge used CD market out there. And my kids keep taking my
> Frank Sinatra and Pink Floyd CDs.

> - if I resell or give away the CD, what about the next buyer/owner --
> is he or she entitled to record it, as above, and then pass it on to
> the next user?

Yes, provided she/he/it passes on all the copies or destroys them.

> - if I made a recording of the originally purchased CD, may I bequeath
> that to the above mentioned kids?

Yes, provided you pass on all the copies or destroy them.

> The point may be moot -- one of our Thanksgiving dinner companions
> suggested that in 5-10 years, CDs will be as obsolete as 8-track
> tapes, and that all storage will be on volatile media (flash drives,
> virtual drives, external hard drives, etc); I for one am going to miss
> the album notes and lyrics, but hell, they'll be on-line as well.

It is extremely difficult to design DRM to stop only *illegal*
copying, and Sony doesn't appear to have that as a goal. It will
probably try to globally erase all copies of a song a few days before
a re-release of it, just to increase sales.

Gordon L. Burditt

Post Followup Article Use your browser's quoting feature to quote article into reply
Go to Next message: Steven Lichter: "Re: Who Owns the Music?"
Go to Previous message: Monty Solomon: "Google Search and Seizure"
May be in reply to: Michael Quinn Michael: "Who Owns the Music?"
Next in thread: Steven Lichter: "Re: Who Owns the Music?"
TELECOM Digest: Home Page