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Finally, An Answer On Copyright, First Sale, And The Gray Market, James Gibson
Finally, An Answer On Copyright, First Sale, And The Gray Market, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
In two past entries in this series, here and here, I discussed whether copyrighted goods manufactured abroad may be resold in the United States without having to get a new license from the copyright owner. When the goods are pirated – manufactured illegally – the answer is clearly no; that’s a classic black-market sale. But when the goods were manufactured abroad with the copyright owner’s consent, well, that’s different. In that case, the resale is what we call a gray-market sale. And there, the answer is less clear.
Or at least it was. But at long last, and after one …
Reproduction, Distribution, And "Making Available", James Gibson
Reproduction, Distribution, And "Making Available", James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
When an individual makes a music or movie file available for downloading by others, without the permission of the copyright owner, is that an infringing act? Or does infringement take place only when the file is actually downloaded?
This thorny copyright issue is at the heart of much of the controversy over file-sharing. It’s relatively simple for a copyright owner to prove that a file has been made available for download, but it’s much harder to prove that a download has actually occurred. So if liability attaches to the mere act of “making available,” record labels and movie studios will …