You used to be able to rent music
Archive: Secondhand Music
Increasingly the law treats the intellectual property mafia like abused children when they are all but small kingdoms with their own army of lawyers.
Do you remember when vinyl records could be rented? This was just before or just after music shops started carrying compact discs. Our biggest competitor here in Durham was a record rental store.
Home taping of LPs had the record labels worried. Some inner-sleeves carried the warning” “Home taping is ruining the record business.” (To which my partner would sometimes add a label with a sarcastic rejoinder.)
One day the recorded music tycoons got a law passed that made it federal crime to rent records. They hadn't nearly the power they do now. Hard to imagine any new surprises given legislators fervent desire to bend over. But they'll surely come.
How things have changed since the early days of the republic when publications were first granted special shipping rates and many states didn't tax newspaper and magazine sales.
Luckily for me once books and CDs are bought they are the property of the purchaser. My shop would've never opened if they came with the End User License Agreements attached to software.
Silly country.
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My thanks,
Richard