Exhaustion and Second-Hand Digital Goods/Contents

Exhaustion and Second-Hand Digital Goods/Contents
Matthias Leistner and Lucie Antoine, University of Munich

978-94-035-0330-1
Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands

Rules on the domestic exhaustion of copyrighted goods serve the freedom of commerce and do not allow the copyright owner to control the second-hand market in such goods. This established balance may considerably shift in favour of copyright owners should the exhaustion principle not apply to digital products. This chapter critically asks how and whether a regime of limited exhaustion for digital goods should be considered an obstacle to legitimate trade.