Redigi, the 'used' mp3 dealer, is now sending out invites for its expansion into Europe. While many may question how big the market is for secondhand mp3s, Redigi obviously feels there's more money to made overseas.

In the US, Redigi is operating in the shadow of a lawsuit filed by the RIAA (with EMI/Capitol Records taking the lead). The RIAA wanted the company shut down, but the presiding judge refused to grant the injunction, citing concerns about the right of first sale, as well as a lack of “irreparable harm,” as claimed by EMI. However, he did note that EMI's arguments were “compelling,” which likely means that sooner or later, the RIAA will get its way. (The outcome of Kirtsaeng vs. Wiley will also have some impact this lawsuit, should it reach its conclusion first.)

Over in Europe, Redigi is relying on a ruling against Oracle (who was taking on UsedSoft, a software reseller), which claimed its software couldn't be resold. “Copyright exhaustion” is the key here — a concept related to the right of first sale — meaning the copyright holder's control ends once the sale is made. More importantly, the European court declared that the software could be sold even if Oracle's contract with the end user prohibits resale.

Obviously, this doesn't sit well with many rights holders. As we're all too aware, when we buy a digital good, we're usually exchanging our money for a license, rather than something we can resell or transfer or even move from computer to computer. These licenses allow the control to remain with the copyright holder (or the retailer/distributor) for long after the famous “first sale.” As Redigi's CEO points out, if you block the customers' right of first sale, then they have vastly overpaid for these licenses.

[M]ost lawful users of music and books have hundreds of dollars of lawfully obtained things on their computers and right now the value of that is zero dollars.

Whether or not Redigi will be successful in Europe remains to be seen, but its business model is applying pressure to rights holders and their representatives to define more clearly what they feel customers are entitled to when they purchase a license disguised as a digital download.

Oh, and Redigi's CEO mentions books for a reason. The company is hoping to expand its current offerings from mp3s to ebooks… and video games. Rolling up on Amazon and re-triggering the AAA game developers' distaste for the secondhand market means things could get interesting in a hurry.

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