Those of you who do or have in the past received promotional discs, or you just saw the racks at the used disc places filled with them from time to time, know about those gold-embossed warnings on the promo cutouts, warning the holder that the disc in question is property of the record company and can be recalled at any time to the mothership. You couldn’t even throw them away.
Well, that might not be especially true anymore.
Back in April, Universal Music Group sued an eBay reseller named Troy Augusto, who would buy promo copies from used record stores in Los Angeles and resell them on the auction site. The suit was filed in federal district court, even though most copyright law experts said that UMG’s claims were wishful thinking at best.
Well, as of today, a federal judge has thrown out the suit. This means that if you’re in the media business, you can get rid of all those promo discs they sent you of long-forgotten post-grunge bands and early ’90s white rappers.
June 12th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Why would you want to get rid of that copy of “No Jacket Required?”
June 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Man, those record labels just can’t catch a break, can they ?