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Issues in original lawsuit: Copyright Infringement
Discussed by Court: First Sale Doctrine, Licensing

UMG Recordings vs Troy Augusto Issues

    • First Sale Doctrine
    • Licensing
    • DMCA 512(f)

Cause Of Action

PLAINTIFF: UMG owns the copyright to numerous songs and produces CDs containing those songs. Before a new CD is released for sale to the public, UMG often creates and distributes a "promotional CD" for purposes of promoting and advertising the release of the new CD. These CDs are labeled not for resale.

DEFENDANT : obtained numerous promotion CDs from music shops and online auctions. Augusto then sold many of UMG's promotional CDs through online auctions on eBay, advertising these promotional CDs as rare collectibles not available in stores.

UMG notified eBay through eBay's Verified Rights Owner program ("VeRO") of its belief that Augusto's auctioning of UMG promotional CDs infringed UMG's copyrights. This led eBay to temporarily stop Augusto's auctions and to suspend Augusto's eBay account.