Re: About first sale doctrine

[John Hasler]

Ciaran writes:
> I can't follow all the mails on this list, but just to distill the
> discussion down: Is someone on this list claiming after Company X sells a
> source+binary copy of some GPL'd software to Buyer Y, that, in the USA,
> Buyer Y can then pass on or resell the binary (without the source)
> without being bound by the requirements of the GPL?

Yes, but under US law a "copy" is a tangible object.  Thus you can purchase
a complete set of Debian CDs from CheapBytes and then sell each CD
seperately even though some of the CDs contain only binaries.  You cannot,
however, download a set of Debian ISOs, burn them to CDs, and sell the
binary ones seperately since you did not purchase those CDs but made them
yourself, thus accepting the terms of the GPL.
-- 
John Hasler 
john@dhh.gt.org
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA