Quote:
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The first-sale doctrine of 1909, in its current form, allows the “owner of a particular copy” of a copyrighted work to sell or dispose of his copy without the copyright owner’s authorization. “The first sale doctrine does not apply to a person who possesses a copy of the copyrighted work without owning it, such as a licensee,” the court ruled.
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...which is why resale of ebooks isn't allowed, because it's technically a license, not ownership (as far as I understand it).
Can you imagine if this leaked over into physical items, such as pbooks and dvds? I would be a lot less likely to purchase anything if I knew I couldn't legally sell it or give it away.