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97 J. Pat. & Trademark Off. Soc'y 232 (2015)
It's My Copy and I'll Sell It If I Want to: Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc

handle is hein.journals/jpatos97 and id is 244 raw text is: 232 It's My Copy and I'll Sell It If I Want To: Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc. David Hamilton* Abstract Does the first-sale doctrine protect a reseller of lawfully purchased digital music files from liability under the U.S. Copyright Act when only one file remains after the transfer? In a case of first impression, the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York held that it does not in Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc. This Comment takes the opposite position. The first-sale doctrine should apply for three related reasons. First, digital music should be treated as material objects under the Copyright Act. Second, computer hard drives are not phonorecords be- cause they merely store and play MP3s. Finally, post-transfer, transferors can no longer reproduce or redistribute the protected songs because they no longer possess the MP3s. Accordingly, the first-sale doctrine should protect the reseller or resale of lawfully purchased digital music files when only one file remains after the transfer. J.D. Candidate, University of La Verne College of Law, 2015; Editor-in-Chief, University ofLa Verne Law Review (Volume 36); Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Law, Business & Ethics (Volume 20). I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout law school.

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