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How a Fight Over Star Wars Download Codes Could Reshape Copyright Law (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A federal judge in California has rejected Disney's effort to stop Redbox from reselling download codes of popular Disney titles like Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and the latest Star Wars movies. Judge Dean Pregerson's Tuesday ruling invoked the little-used doctrine of copyright misuse, which holds that a copyright holder loses the right to enforce a copyright if the copyright is being abused. Pregerson faulted Disney for tying digital download codes to physical ownership of discs, a practice that he argued ran afoul of copyright's first sale doctrine, which guarantees customers the right to resell used DVDs.
If the ruling were upheld on appeal, it would have sweeping implications. It could potentially force Hollywood studios to stop bundling digital download codes with physical DVDs and force video game companies to rethink their own practices. But James Grimmelmann, a copyright scholar at Cornell Law School, is skeptical that the ruling will survive an inevitable appeal from Disney. "I don't see this one sticking," Grimmelmann told Ars. Copyright misuse has such sweeping legal implications that an appeals court will be reluctant to apply it to a common movie industry practice.
If the ruling were upheld on appeal, it would have sweeping implications. It could potentially force Hollywood studios to stop bundling digital download codes with physical DVDs and force video game companies to rethink their own practices. But James Grimmelmann, a copyright scholar at Cornell Law School, is skeptical that the ruling will survive an inevitable appeal from Disney. "I don't see this one sticking," Grimmelmann told Ars. Copyright misuse has such sweeping legal implications that an appeals court will be reluctant to apply it to a common movie industry practice.
"Copyright misuse has such sweeping legal implications that an appeals court will be reluctant to apply it to a common movie industry practice."
Okay, so just break the law enough times that no one will want to charge you with the crime because it would change the status quo... great line of thinking...
how do I not have a right to sell it? If Disney sells me a license, how do I not have a right to resell that license? And if I don't have that right then we're not even pretending to be a free market anymore, are we?
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Redbox purchased the DVD or Blu-Ray. They paid the same amount that a regular person would when buying the disc. The code can only be used once, so it's not like this is enabling mass piracy by everyone who rents the video or anything. What's the big deal?
If Redbox didn't sell the code, the first person to rent the disc would get it anyway and probably use it. It's not like Disney is losing any money from this.
They need to chill out and stop trying to stop people every time they find a way to do things that they did not anticipate when there isn't even a harmed party.
The workaround for that seems pretty simple; they only have to specify that your license for the downloaded movie is only valid so long as you have the original disc. If you sell the disc then the license is revoked, and you have to delete the downloaded copy. This doesn't violate the "first sale" doctrine since you still retain the right to sell the disc.
I'm not sure whether that's part of their license or not ... if not then it was obviously a rather large oversight. Expect it to be rectified.