I’ve said before that I’m skeptical of the idea behind ReDigi — a seller of “used” mp3s. The company claims it has a system to make sure that if you sell a music file you own, that they then make sure it’s deleted from your computer. This just seems dumb for a variety of reasons — some economic, some technological and some legal. But, most of all, I just don’t see people caring enough to make this a valid business. Either way, whether it’s dumb or not, the RIAA couldn’t let the company actually try something new… so, of course it sued, with EMI subsidiary Capitol Records taking the lead on the case.

Somewhat surprisingly, the judge refused to issue the injunction, calling the case “fascinating” and noting that there were some serious issues to be dealt with concerning first sale rights around copyright (whether or not you can sell a product you bought that is covered by copyright). However, the judge also made it clear that he thinks that the record labels are likely to win in the end, saying that their arguments “look to be compelling.” He just didn’t issue the injunction because there was no evidence of irreparable harm if the site stayed up, as detailed in the transcript embedded below.

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