Creator Arrogance

[Qie Niangao]

2 hours ago, Jennifer Boyle said:

There are some issues related to this discussion that I have long wondered about but never seen discussed, so I am going to bring them up.

The permissions system limits abilities, not rights. Laws limit rights, not abilities.

Under US law, the first sale doctrine protects the right of an owner of a legally-acquired copyrighted item to resell the item. Doesn't the no-transfer permission prevent buyers from exercising this right that they have under law?

Under US law, buyers of "software" have the right to make a backup copy. IANAL, and I'm not sure that all digital goods legally count as software, but I am sure that scripts and items containing scripts do. Doesn't the no-copy permission prevent buyers from exercising this right that they have under the law?

Am I missing something?

IANAL either, but I wonder: might it have to do with acquiring only the license to use something streamed, rather than acquiring a thing itself? In SL, we purchase only that license, so maybe we have no rights to resell that license nor make a backup copy of the virtual thing rendered under that license.

I really doubt there's any right to resell music I stream on Spotify, which is pretty analogous to reselling anything I buy in-world.

But now I wonder, do I really have a right to make a backup copy of the software my smart TV downloads whenever it's most inconvenient? Maybe we have that right but nobody wants it so nobody cares there's no practical ability to obtain it?