The digital rights quagmire

In traditional print rights, the so-called “first sale doctrine” (also known as the exhaustion doctrine) means that once a lawfully made copy of a work has been distributed by the rights owner, the owner of that copy is able to sell, lend or otherwise give away this copy without further permission from the original rights owner. This means that no brick-and-mortar bookstore or public library ever needed any license agreements with any publishers to sell or lend books.

via The digital rights quagmire – O'Reilly Radar.