On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 04:31:29 -0700, "^^indifference^^"
wheredothebirdsgowhenitrains wrote:


"Robert Morein" wrote in message
...

"Walter Traprock" wrote in message
...
Aren't we all very concerned with the issue of piracy, and how the
record labels are dying from internet file sharing? Aren't owning and
trading used recordings a form of piracy, as it steals sales from the
artists? Shouldn't we destroy our out-of-print albums as possessing
such is akin spiritually to bald-faced theft of potential cd sales?

It is not illegal.
This is a really, really, lousy troll.
You can do better.



He makes a valid point. Why is it illegal to give away something via file
sharing but legal to sell a used record or cd?

Because in the case of a used album or CD, you are selling the license
as well as the item. The license travels with the item and is
transferrable. This is NOT the case with most promo albums or CDs
though. Technically it's illegal to sell most of them. It depends if
they're marked "Property of Record Company/Not For Sale. The record
company retains the license in those cases.

File sharing is different because you are distributing an item by
duplication and you don't own a license for that. If you were to press
your own vinyl copies of an album, it would be equally illegal.