THERE are some things in life we take for granted. Among them are the ability to lend each other books, record TV programmes, back up expensive computer programs, and sell on our old CDs when we’ve got tired of them.
The fact that we are able do these things is not the result of magnanimity on the part of people who hold the copyright. Far from it. It is integral to the bargain that governments have brokered between copyright holders and the public. In the US, copyright owners can’t ban you from reselling the CDs you have bought because of…
