The right to resell: a ticking time bomb over digital goods

[Commentary] It’s easy to borrow a book from the library, rent a DVD or sell CDs to a local record store. Why, then, is it so hard to do the same when this content is in digital form?

One reason is that laws that govern how we sell our stuff aren’t very compatible with digital content. As awareness of these issues builds, a war is brewing – with retailers and publishers on one side, and libraries, consumers, and startups on the other. To break the impasse, libraries are pushing for Digital First Sale rights in the law. Libraries recently joined together with other, better-heeled entities in a lobbying group called the Owners’ Rights Initiative (ORI). The ORI, which launched back in October, is a “strange bedfellows” coalition of library trade associations, companies such as Chegg (used textbooks) and Redbox (DVD/Blu-ray kiosks) that could expand into resale of digital content, several companies that sell used IT equipment, and last but not least, eBay. The ORI’s slogan is “You bought it, you own it.” Digital music resale and library e-book lending are just two of what will undoubtedly be many digital content distribution models that will touch on the issue of Digital First Sale – a law that, like other aspects of copyright, seems increasingly irrelevant as content moves from physical products to formless bits. As the controversies and lawsuits grow, the inadequacy of the status quo will be increasingly clear.

[Bill Rosenblatt is an authority on digital rights management and President of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies]