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Google Asks Court Not To Enjoin ReDigi
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Google has sought leave to submit an amicus curiae brief against Capitol Records' preliminary injunction motion in Capitol Records v. ReDigi. In their letter seeking pre-motion conference or permission to file (PDF) Google argued that '[t]he continued vitality of the cloud computing industry — which constituted an estimated 41 billion dollar global market in 2010 — depends in large part on a few key legal principles that the preliminary injunction motion implicates.' Among them, Google argued, is the fact that mp3 files either are not 'material objects' and therefore not subject to the distribution right articulated in 17 USC 106(3) for 'copies and phonorecords,' or they are material objects and therefore subject to the 'first sale' exception to the distribution right articulated in 17 USC 109, but they can't be — as Capitol Records contends — material objects under one and not the other."
"We certainly can't let the law get in way of making money." That's been the RIAA's argument so far...
Well the money is certainly a good reason for Google to be involved, and good for the court to know it's not just considering an academic issue.
On the other hand, Google's actual argument doesn't depend on money. And they are right in a very obvious sense. When you need to upgrade your DVD to a bluray, they tell you " you only own the media, you need to buy a new one". When you complain about how you shouldn't have to pay $25 for a DVD that costs less than a dollar to manufacture, they tell you " the price of the media isn't relevant, your paying for a license." they've been playing all kinds of games like that. It's always " heads I win, tails you lose".