The "first sale" doctrine expresses the idea that, if you buy something, it's yours to do what you want with it. In other words, the vendors rights end once the item has been sold. This is what allows you to sell your used books and what allows libraries to loan copies for free. This article argues that the first sale doctrine ought to be extended to digital works. I agree: indeed, I see the elimination of first sale for electronic works to be a significant reduction in the rights we have as consumers. It grants copyright owners new rights they never had, at the expense of destroying rights consumers have always had.
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