Abstract
Copyright law fails utterly to develop a coherent concept of "digital sales." Printed books and vinyl records are easily sold and resold, with the copyright holder’s permission or under the first sale doctrine. But a creator of digital copyrighted works who wants to analogously “sell” their work to buyers faces what borders on an absurdity; “digital sales” of copyrighted works are incoherent at worst and useless at best. As a result, sophisticated copyright owners almost never sell their works and only license purchasers to make particular uses of digital works, such as “personal uses” or reproducing the work on a certain number of devices. While licensing gives copyright owners greater downstream control over their works, the popularity of this control obscures the reality that a copyright owner couldn’t meaningfully render a “digital sale” even if they wanted to.
The incoherence of “digital sales” is something to be concerned about if we want a copyright law system that works both for sophisticated copyright owners and the proverbial “little guy.” Someone selling digital art, literature, or music shouldn’t have to educate themselves on the law of licensing when painters, print authors, and amateur musicians selling their albums on CDs can simply engage in the practice we all understand—selling their work to a buyer. And with small changes to how copyright law is understood, digital artists will be able to sell as well. Drawing inspiration from a framework for property rights in all data, this Article explains how copyright law can recognize a standard, workable definition of “digital sales.” Embracing its conclusions will make digital copyright law more straightforward and intuitive for creators and purchasers alike.
Recommended Citation
Christina Mulligan,
Data Property & Digital Sales,
58 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 619
().
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/llr/vol58/iss3/1
