John Ossenmacher, CEO of ReDigi, the first online marketplace for the resale of pre-owned digital media, will be among those testifying today at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in New York City before the U.S. House of Representatives’s Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet about First Sale Under Title 17.
ReDigi advocates for the extension of the resale of e-books and other digital media under the First Sale Doctrine, which permits the sale of pre-owned books, CDs, and other physical media. As part of his testimony, Ossenmacher notes, “Since consumers have an absolute right under Title 17 to resell, donate, or even destroy the copyright works that they have lawfully acquired, the exclusion of digital would be no different than the taking away of any property right from Americans simply because technology has changed or improved our lives.”
Among those testifying in opposition to reselling digital media are: Stephen M. Smith, president and CEO of John Wiley & Sons and Emery Simon, counselor, BSA-The Software Alliance.
