First Sale Doctrine under attack in UMG v Augusto

I'm going to break with the political coverage for a moment and talk about a court case to keep an eye on.

The case involves an eBay merchant who sells collectable CDs. These CDs were originally promotional copies, and Universal Music Group (UMG) filed a complaint alleging that he is violating their copyright by selling these items. Their position is that because these are labeled "promotional use only," they are licensed, not sold, and remain the property of UMG. The eBay merchant has filed a counterclaim, with the help of the EFF.

There's more to this case than meets the eye, because it targets the "First Sale Doctrine," a 100-year-old legal precedent that says that once you legally obtain an item, you have the right to resell it. If the First Sale Doctrine can be negated just by applying a sticker to an item, this could cause problems for everyone from used CD stores to libraries, not to mention individual consumers. On The Media has an interview with the EFF lawyer handling the case that discusses these issues.