Why is it legal to buy and sell used books/discs but illegal to buy and sell used digital files?
this contradiction always confused me. either way the official company is "losing a sale" and not getting the money, right?
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Legally speaking you don't own the digital files, you have a license but you don't actually own it.
So, why can’t I buy and sell license?
Ehhh they’re technically wrong. You don’t own the media with physical formats either. There’s just nothing they can do about it if they want it out of your home.
In a way, NFTs were supposed to solve this.
I believe there was a recent EU ruling that mandated that this must be allowed.
I'm not sure of the details, however.
You literally can. Check out kinguin
Often, licence agreements stipulate that they are not transferable and thus you have contractually agreed not to resell them. To what extent this is enforceable is... contentious. Different courts have struggled with the topic and have ruled both directions on the issue.
Copyright law as written was not designed for immaterial goods in any way, and the DMCA has done little to improve that. So effectively the judicial branch is in limbo. Corporate America is content to leave the confusion as is. They can just adopt an interpretation of the law that is maximally beneficial to them, and consumers generally don't have the resources to challenge that interpretation.
That is no different with CDs, DVDs, etc. It’s written on all of them. It’s a limited license, which is why you can’t host screenings and charge people with your physical media.