Frank doesn't understand why the First Sale doctrine wouldn't apply to DVDs, and neither do I.
He points to rental restrictions on software and phonorecords, but I'm not sure how that matters. Rental restrictions don't affect the other components of the First Sale doctrine such as selling or giving away the work. Even if you can't rent CDs, no one - except the RIAA - is claiming they can't be sold or transferred (and it seems the most relevant argument against LaLa is that they can't guarantee the original was legally aqcuired). Furthermore, it's (somewhat) more difficult to copy DVDs than CDs (unless it came from Sony BMG), so the justification behind the rule is a bit flimsy in that context.
Like Frank, I've been expecting that we'd get an answer soon enough, but I still haven't seen anything over a year later.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Tags: Copyright, Intellectual Property, IP, DVD, Movies
