Last month MMW reported that Apple has recently filed a patent for a system that enables users to buy and sell every conceivable digital offering imaginable – books, movies, music, software, etc.
The system would prevent the original owner from accessing the content after selling it, and could allow the original creator or publisher to receive a cut of the resale price.
It was certainly a nice idea while it lasted. A U.S. district court judge has issued a ruling against the resale of songs purchased through digital outlets.
Unfortunately, that includes the likes of iTunes.
U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan determined that the unauthorized transfer of digital music is illegal under the Copyright Act.
Consequently, Sullivan ruled in favor of plaintiff Capitol Records’ suit against ReDigi, an online marketplace for “digital used music.”
So unless Apple secures comprehensive agreements with record labels and film studios to create and deploy this envisioned system, it appears that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant won’t be able to proceed with the “next big thing” in digital content ownership – resale opportunities.
