Ask HN:What do you really buy when you buy a song on CD? What becomes yours?

[lovelyviking]

What is the meaning of it?

What become yours after the purchase ?

Some rights for the song or for the medium?

Some rights for this digital data set?

The right to listen for one particular song? But you already have such right to listen to any song!

The right to listen it many times? Same thing, you already have it.

The right to listen whenever you want? But again ... you already have this.

So they sell technical ability to listen whenever you wish one particular song and this is what you buy? but only this particular technical ability? Can you work on ability and improve it for instance?

What do you buy ? The right to initiate conversion of particular digital data into the sound wave through some specific hardware including speaker? Amd of hardware has changed a bit?

Access to some particular data ? So once you’ve bought it you have it? Or as long as medium functioning?

If CD is broken is it still yours?

What is it really you are buying here?!

[wmf]

I think the first sale doctrine is the answer you're looking for. https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-first-sale-doctrine-a... https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/the-first-sale-doctr...

[sitkack]

When I buy on bandcamp I buy the flac and download it to my machine, in exchange I don't just get the bitstream but I get to listen to the music and know that the artist of something I like got compensated for it, so hopefully they can make more and do the things they like, which hopefully making the music.

[ddingus]

You get your copy of the song on that CD.

You can transcode it, make a backup of it, play it on any of your devices, and destroy it.

What you can't do is distribute anything other than the CD you purchased, and the right of first sale ensures you can sell or give that CD away.