good, it's about time (although it will probably be appealed)...
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/28713
Judge rejects music industry's promo CD copyright claim
In a major pushback against music industry efforts to expand copyright control at the expense of consumers, a California judge has ruled that recipients of promotional CDs are free to do with them as they please. In other words, what would seem obvious to the layman, in this case also happens to be the law.
However, during a long-running legal battle that shut down an eBay seller, Universal Music Group had argued that it retained licensing rights and could prohibit such resale despite the fact that its promo CDs are distributed willy-nilly to thousands of music industry insiders who neither ask for them nor are not expected to return them.
Tuesday's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge S. James Otero is meaningful not merely because it protects an income stream for CD resellers, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation, but primarily because it affirms the so-called "first sale" doctrine.
....
The bottom line from the judge:
"The promo CDs are unordered merchandise," Otero writes in his order (PDF). " ... By
sending the promo CDs to music industry insiders, UMG transferred title to those
insiders and the promo CDs are subject to the First Sale Doctrine."
Read more at the link..
later
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