The recent discussions about Sony led to some interesting discussions among my colleagues about the used CD market:
- 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? 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?
- if I made a recording of the originally purchased CD, may I bequeath that to the above mentioned kids?
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.
Thoughts invited.