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This information is taken directly from the court opinion. It is not taken out of context nor is it altered.

From UMG Recordings vs Troy Augusto, 558 F. Supp. 2d 1055 - Dist. Court, CD. California, 2008

The right to perpetual possession is a critical incident of ownership. See Krause v. Titleserv, Inc., 402 F.3d 119, 123 (2d Cir. 2005) (describing a person's "degree of ownership of a copy" as "complete" when "he may lawfully use it and keep it forever, or if so disposed, throw it in the trash"). Accordingly, the distributor of a copyrighted product's intent to regain possession is strong evidence that the product was licensed, not sold, to the recipient. The absence of this intent is strong evidence that the product was sold.

The Ninth Circuit's decision in United States v. Wise demonstrates the importance of regaining possession of the licensed product. 550 F.2d 1180 (9th Cir. 1977). In Wise, the court evaluated several contracts under which movie studios transferred movie prints. Most of the contracts required that the recipients return the movie prints after a fixed term. Id. at 1185 ("The license agreements with respect to the films involved in this case generally . . . required their return at the expiration of the license period."). The Ninth Circuit determined that these contracts were licenses.

However, some of the contracts permitted the recipient to keep the film print. In particular, one contract allowed an actress to keep possession of the film print "at all times" for her "personal use and enjoyment," but prevented her from transferring the print to anyone else. Id. at 1192. The Ninth Circuit determined that this contract was a sale, not a license.

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