Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
Some people like to throw out the red herring that if you buy digital media, then you aren't actually buying it, but rather licensing it. As far as I know, that particular theory has as much validity in the courts as the various signs one sees claiming no responsibility in parking lots. Just because one party asserts such things, doesn't make it true.
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It's not a red herring. When you say "you aren't actually buying it" what is the "it" in that sentence? Because what you actually do is click a few buttons on a website and download a file. But a file is not a fixed thing. And there can be multiple copies of that file. Some can be ones you validly copied, e.g different devices, others not, e.g. you make a copy for a friend.
As far as I know there's only a couple of types of thing you could be buying - a tangible object, or the rights to something. Since there is no tangible object then it must be rights. But you're not buying the copyright rights outright - you don't now control the rights to "The Shining" or whatever. So you must be buying a limited set of those rights. Which we call licensing.
Truth is there'd be no "buying" at all without copyright. If there were no copyright you'd just copy when and where you liked and give money only if you felt like it. And copyright is, at root, fairly simple: the copyright owner controls the right to make copies and can license others to do so if they wish, subject to whatever terms they wish.