Re: [dvd-discuss] Slightly OT - Japanese copyrights

[Bruce Thompson <bruce(at)otherother.com>]

Hi yet again,
     Please also see my other reply a few moments ago on this.

On 2002.02.28 12:11 Noah silva wrote:
> It also matches a lot of contracts I have seen, explicitly saying that
> you
> have right to a backup, but all backups must be destroyed or
> transferred when the product is transferred.

I believe that one of the fundamental issues underlying this is whether a 
purchase in a store can be construed to be agreement to a contract where 
you have no ability to negotiate the terms of the contract. There was a 
wide ranging discussion some time ago on this issue and I believe that the 
consensus was that a contract where one party does not have the ability to 
negotiate the terms is not a valid contract (there was a specific legal 
term bandied about that escapes me right now).
> 
> let's go to something less clear:
> what about when there is no original copy?
> I pay to download it, I would think I can sell whatever I downloaded on
> CD
> or whatever if I delete my copies... but what about....
> 
> I record something from TV and sell it.  Is this legal?  Well I got my
> "first sale" I guess when I watched it.  How can I say I "own a copy" of
> it, when there was no particular number of copies produced.  On the other
> hand, hoe can anyone yell at me for distributing something that they mass
> distributed for free.

I firmly believe that this is not legal. There is no first sale I believe 
because there is no sale of a tangible copy of the work. I believe that 
first sale confers the right to sell the particular physical (tangible) 
copy that was purchased. If there is no tangible copy then I believe there 
is no first sale regardless of the price (if any) paid for the original 
"copy".

> 
> My feeling is this should be legal, but there would be very little market
> for it if it cost any significant amount, because someone else would have
> recorded it too.  I am sure somehow that certain people wouldn't like
> this. -- but then, I don't understand why napster gets in trouble even
> though I can fairly easily and legally record the same music off the
> radio!

	Cheers,
	Bruce.