First Sale Doctrine applies to readers who purchase a paperback or a hardback. They bought it. They can sell it, it physically changes hands, and the original owner won't still have it once it's sold. Sadly, piracy hurts honest readers, too.
How's that? It's the law of supply and demand. If there were only 15,000 copies of my paperback ever printed, your used copy is one-in-fifteen-thousand. However, if some pirate creates 50,000 free reads of the same book, he devalues the gently used print novel that you might want to legitimately sell on Amazon or on EBay or donate for a charitable deduction.
First Sale Doctrine does most emphatically not apply to e-books. (Because you cannot sell an e-book without creating a copy.)
How's that? It's the law of supply and demand. If there were only 15,000 copies of my paperback ever printed, your used copy is one-in-fifteen-thousand. However, if some pirate creates 50,000 free reads of the same book, he devalues the gently used print novel that you might want to legitimately sell on Amazon or on EBay or donate for a charitable deduction.
First Sale Doctrine does most emphatically not apply to e-books. (Because you cannot sell an e-book without creating a copy.)