An appeals court said Wednesday that consumers have a right to re-sell promotional CDs, which could have implications for other copyrighted goods as well.
In the case, Los Angeles music re-seller Troy Augusto was in a copyright duel with Universal Music Group. Augusto makes his living buying and re-selling music, including the promo CDs sometimes issued by record labels such as Universal that are marked “for promotional use only.” Universal sued Augusto and his company back in 2007, arguing that anyone distributing those CD’s without its permission was violating its copyright.
