public domain - long

[LiberryWorker]

Wouldn't selling video games on eBay be acceptable under the first-sale doctrine? Assuming it's the original game discs, or cartridges, it should be perfectly legal to sell them. I'm sure I'm missing something, though

[Hon'ya-chan]

Wouldn't selling video games on eBay be acceptable under the first-sale doctrine? Assuming it's the original game discs, or cartridges, it should be perfectly legal to sell them. I'm sure I'm missing something, though

I think what OP is referring too is copies of the games, not exactly the original game discs.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

There's probably nothing on earth that has more copyrights than the Superman franchise.

[DevilBoy]

There's probably nothing on earth that has more copyrights than the Superman franchise.

Coca-Cola, NIKE, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Microsoft...etc.

[Legal Eagle]

Coca-Cola, NIKE, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, Microsoft...etc.

they're pretty low on copyrights, compared to Superman anyway. They're protected by Patents and Trademarks more than Copyright

[Imogene]

There's probably nothing on earth that has more copyrights than the Superman franchise.

Disney, particularly Mickey.
Disney is the reason copyright law keeps getting extended.

[JLRodgers]

Sometimes the stupidity of people involving copyrights amazes me....

I remember having such a hard time even finding out the info required (even contacting ebay for info), and getting permission to do so when I was trying to sell bulk versions of my software company's software on the site -- that I didn't even do it.

Considering my company only deals with digital copies... it wasn't a problem until we had an order for 80 CDs, and then it fell through leaving us stuck with them.

[otakuneko]

The auction I won my ibook on may have been in violation.

I got the laptop and the AC adapter, no discs at all. Laptop was pre-loaded with Mac version of MS Office. The rest of the stuff on there was, I'm pretty sure, stuff normally included in OSX anyway.

I'll soon be selling the thing "for parts" on ebay.

[Dreamstalker]

Wouldn't selling video games on eBay be acceptable under the first-sale doctrine? Assuming it's the original game discs, or cartridges, it should be perfectly legal to sell them.

IIRC, original discs yes (although discs that have an activation key, I'm not sure about as it would be difficult to tell whether the key has been used; sealed-box isn't always a good barometer unless there is one of those hologram seals that shreds if it's removed).

What you can't do is burn a copy, make a disc label (or add the disc art using a Lightscribe drive) and sell that.

My understanding of the first-sale doctrine is that it goes into effect once an item and money have changed hands at the original point of sale (the article now belongs to the individual and they can do whatever they want with it as long as it's legal). There's an ebay member by the name of "tabberone" who has some good info on that.

[Chromatix]

Even if there's an activation code, it's normally legal to sell the disc and the code together, provided you also remove it from your own machine. The same goes for dongles or any other copy-protection measure, or for original ROM cartridges.

The main exception is for "activation codes" which actually buy time on a subscription, for example for MMO games. If the code has been used in these cases, it becomes worthless, because it ties the purchased subscription time to whoever used it.

The other exception is for OEM versions of software supplied with specific hardware; you may only return this software to the supplier for a refund, not resell it. If you sell the hardware, the software has to go with it.

[RichS]

Disney, particularly Mickey.
Disney is the reason copyright law keeps getting extended.

Oh yes, the Mickey Mouse law..

So called because when Mickey's copyright is about to expire and go into the public domain, it just so happens that the length of copyright gets extended.

Good for Disney and other companies that have works they want to keep, bad for other works that don't have support, and we are in danger of losing.

[Darkwish]

Wow... this thread is still going...

My understanding of the first-sale doctrine is that it goes into effect once an item and money have changed hands at the original point of sale (the article now belongs to the individual and they can do whatever they want with it as long as it's legal). There's an ebay member by the name of "tabberone" who has some good info on that.

Just a week or so ago my coworkers were talking about "tabberone"... don't remember what was said though.

First sale stuff applies - you bought it, you can sell it on eBay (just not any copies of it).

For the MMO games where the cd key is tied to the account (makes it really hard to sell legitimately), if you want to sell it on eBay, you have to delete the account first. If you call up the companies, they'll probably let you delete the account and free up the code to be used again, but you never know (and I've never done this, but I have heard that some will).

[Canarr]

Seller #3
We get these idiots about once a week. Their claim is that if it's on the radio/TV/Internet, it MUST be public domain!!!

I was always curious about that, I admit. You're allowed to tape a show or movie on TV using your VCR, right? No problems there. But could you make a copy for a friend (for free)? How about copies for several friends? Or using a DVD Recorder and putting it on the internet afterwards? The movie was on TV, so in theory everybody could already have seen it for free. Can you then not also distribute it for free?

Now, I'd assume that making lots of copies and selling them is a different piece of cake, but if you just give it away?

[Dreamstalker]

Just a week or so ago my coworkers were talking about "tabberone"... don't remember what was said though.

First sale stuff applies - you bought it, you can sell it on eBay (just not any copies of it).

She's taken on a few large companies who claimed first-sale didn't exist. The issue was using licensed fabric to make items and then selling those.

There have also been a few companies--Coach comes to mind--who try to have legitimate auctions pulled on the claim that the items are counterfeit (I got dinged by Tomy a few years ago for that--I offered to send a scan of the original purchase receipt and never heard from them again).

[Dips]

I was always curious about that, I admit. You're allowed to tape a show or movie on TV using your VCR, right? No problems there. But could you make a copy for a friend (for free)? How about copies for several friends? Or using a DVD Recorder and putting it on the internet afterwards? The movie was on TV, so in theory everybody could already have seen it for free. Can you then not also distribute it for free?

Now, I'd assume that making lots of copies and selling them is a different piece of cake, but if you just give it away?

Yes. Making a personal copy for yourself is OK.

Yes. LOANING your personal copy to a friend who may want to see the show he missed is also OK.

But, no. Copying and distrubuting copyrighted works without the copyright owner's permission isn't OK. Even if you give it away.

I'm not going to argue whether that should or shouldn't be the case here, but that is the case.