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nekokami · 09-07-2007, 04:11 PM

For a review of US law in this area, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine. Apparently there is some confusion about whether this doctrine can legally be limited by an End User License Agreement (i.e. EULA).

My sense of it is that you "own" one copy, which you can sell (or do certain other things to), but there are some limits on what you can do, especially as regards making additional copies. With a paper book, the copy is physical. With an ebook, the copy is electronic. This is somewhat problematic as computers make "copies" of all electronic content, just in the process of using the content (e.g. copying data from a hard drive to RAM). Also, digital content is somewhat more fragile than analog (e.g. paper) content, so backup copies are considered normal. The critical factor seems to be whether you distribute copies.

09-07-2007, 04:11 PM	#62
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	For a review of US law in this area, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-sale_doctrine. Apparently there is some confusion about whether this doctrine can legally be limited by an End User License Agreement (i.e. EULA). My sense of it is that you "own" one copy, which you can sell (or do certain other things to), but there are some limits on what you can do, especially as regards making additional copies. With a paper book, the copy is physical. With an ebook, the copy is electronic. This is somewhat problematic as computers make "copies" of all electronic content, just in the process of using the content (e.g. copying data from a hard drive to RAM). Also, digital content is somewhat more fragile than analog (e.g. paper) content, so backup copies are considered normal. The critical factor seems to be whether you distribute copies.