Universal gives out a promo disc to a reviewer. That reviewer, at some point, dumps the disc at a local record store. Troy Augusto, of Roastbeast Music Collectibles, buys them up and sells them as collectibles on eBay. Universal thinks this infringes on their right of distribution. The law called “First Sale” is pretty clear, Universal gave the discs to a reviewer, disc jockey, etc, which means that disc is now the property of the person, not Universal. The same would be true if the someone went to a store and purchased the disc. That new owner can do what they like with it, including give it to a friend, keep it forever, sell to a used CD store, or throw it away. Universal contends that their sticker that says “not for resale” constitutes a contract and therefore cannot be resold, as per the sticker’s “agreement”.
Thankfully, the EFF is taking Universal to court over the matter, since Universal is suing Troy and I believe they will win without even having a court date. This business just gets more and more ridiculous by the day. I’m just waiting until they try to license my head’s radio station, especially when I get some song stuck in there and they demand thousands of dollars because it player 8,000 times in one day.
Most Commented