Obama And The Media-Sharing Blues

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has reported that Obama’s gift to the Queen of England, an iPod loaded with Broadway showtunes, may have come with some copyright questions.

The issue is over where copyright law stands when music being gifted is digital. In the digital era, the concept of first sale and ownership rights is heavily disputed. Some copyright-holders would argue the showtunes, as digital products, are licensed but not owned. Thus, President Obama is technically unable resell or redistribute them. Still others would argue the gift was fair use. With sovereign immunity and a legion of secret service, President Obama is presumably safe from the copyright owners’ lawyers. Yet, EFF argues, this occurrence reveals the grey area surrounding copyright law and digital products.

Two weeks ago, Obama’s preference for gifts of copyrighted works caused another IP gaffe when his administration gave UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of classic American DVDs – a gesture that was frustrated by digital rights management restricting the geographical regions in which the DVDs could be watched.