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e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Online Promo Music Resales
Fall under First Sale Doctrine
The Copyright Act's first sale doctrine allows an individual to resell promotional music CDs sent to industry insiders, despite the fact that the CDs bore labels with words that purportedly “license” use of the CD by the recipient. UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Augusto, No. 07-03106 (C.D. Cal. June 10, 2008). The court granted the defendant online reseller's motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff-record company's copyright-infringement claim, but denied the defendant's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) counterclaim for the plaintiff's alleged wrongful takedown notice previously sent to an online auction Web site. Looking to the economic realities of the transaction, the court found that the distribution of the promotional CD provided the recipients with many rights of ownership, including the right to perpetual possession and the freedom from obligations to the plaintiff, making such a distribution a gift or sale, not a license, and thus subject to the first sale doctrine. The court also concluded that, based on the uncertainty of the law in this area, the plaintiff possessed a subjective good-faith belief that its copyright was being infringed when it sent the takedown notice to the online auction site containing the defendant's listing, and was not liable under the DMCA.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
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Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
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Compliance Officers: Recent Regulatory Guidance and Enforcement Actions and Mitigating the Risk of Personal Liability
This article explores legal developments over the past year that may impact compliance officer personal liability.