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Topic: Threat to 2nd hand CD sales |
Janice Brooks
From:
Pleasant Gap Pa
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Posted 7 May 2007 7:26 am |
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By Ed Christman
Fri May 4, 10:37 PM ET
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Independent merchants selling and buying used CDs across the United States say they are alarmed by stepped-up pawn-broker-related laws recently enacted in Florida and Utah and pending in Rhode Island and Wisconsin.
In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit and file security in the form of a $10,000 bond with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In addition, stores would be required to thumb-print customers selling used CDs, and acquire a copy of state-issued identity documents such as a driver's license. Furthermore, stores could issue only store credit -- not cash -- in exchange for traded CDs, and would be required to hold discs for 30 days before reselling them.
At least one Florida town has enforced the law, resulting in the cited merchant pulling used CDs from its store.
The law in Utah and the legislation pending in Wisconsin and Rhode Island are also harsher than typical pawn-shop laws, according to John Mitchell, outside counsel for NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers).
Brian Faber, director of operations for the eight-store, Phoenix-based Zia chain, says that while the rules sound onerous and could devalue the used-CD market, "we would comply and the market would ultimately adjust itself."
Faber says about 40 percent of his chain's volume comes from used-CD sales, paying out 80 percent cash and 20 percent store credit. If retailers could only pay out credit, he says, it could negatively affect product flow. The used-CD business' low pricing, he adds, is already being devalued by falling prices of new CDs.
Meanwhile, NARM says it will try to help shape the pending legislation. In Florida, retailers selling previously owned videos and videogames managed to carve out a partial exemption from the law so that they do not need a permit and have to wait only 15 days before reselling the merchandise.
Reuters/Billboard |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 7 May 2007 8:48 am
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Does anyone know the actual reasons behind why these laws were passed?
I'm sure we can all speculate, but I am curious as to what prompted the legislation.
If it becomes a big pain in California were a law of this nature to be passed, and drove up prices-it would seriously curtail my CD purchasing habits, and without guys like me, independent record stores would take a major hit.
I buy a lot of CD's, probably about 2/3 new and 1/3 used. If I find something used in a shop on a given day for $8.99, I may be purchasing at the same time a new release for $15.99.
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Mark |
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Richard Sevigny
From:
Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
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Posted 7 May 2007 9:53 am
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Those laws sound like the ones we have up here governing pawnshops. They enforce a cooling off period in case the items for sale are stolen.
CD's are easy to steal, no doubt. Recovering a stolen CD collection would be next to impossible (no Serial #'s) short of fingerprinting the original owner  Even then, one wipe with rubbing alcohol probably destroys the evidence.
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If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 7 May 2007 12:03 pm
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"In case they are stolen" ?
Huh ?
What about everything else in the pawn shops !!!
In NC you do have to show an ID to sell anything and I imagine they have a record of all the items purchased by Pawn Brokers..but still the question begs to be asked..why CD's ?
It makes no sense...well at least not to me.. |
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 7 May 2007 12:51 pm
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The music biz has tried to muscle out used music sales before. It didn't work then, and I don't think it will work now. IMO, this is a clear first amendment rights issue, as this Billboard article also suggests: Click Here.
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| "Traditionally, used CD sales are protected by first-sale doctrine in copyright laws allow owners to resell CDs, according to Mitchell. Also, a CD resale is also protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment, argues Mitchell. Since selling a CD could be seen as an indication that the owner does not like or agree with the content, the collection of identification information could be seen as a violation of first amendment rights." |
This is also an attempt to make a preemptive strike against someone selling stolen goods without any evidence they have any stolen property. It makes all kinds of sense to insist that used merchandise sellers keep a record of who they get stuff from, but I don't think they have any right to stop them from selling it whenever they want to.
I also agree that such a measure is completely useless to stop stolen CD sales, since there isn't any permanent and unique identification mark on a CD which would tie it to an owner, unless the owner puts one on. It might be effective with larger goods like guns or guitars, which have serial numbers and involve enough money to make it worthwhile to keep track of them individually. This is pretty silly, and obviously aimed directly at infringing on the right to sell used CDs. IMHO, of course. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 7 May 2007 1:56 pm
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I tried to find the actual legislation with a Goggle search and failed. Can anyone find the law itself? I'm wondering if this is an unintentional consequence of some well-meaning legislation aimed at burglers, car thieves, etc.
Here's a list of the "major" bills that passed during the most recent session of the Florida legislature:
http://www.miamiherald.com/458/story/97886.html
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 7 May 2007 2:26 pm
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well, based on the hundreds of CD's I have weeded thru in the Pawn Shops, it is obvious to me that the crooks stole a whole bunch of CD's that evidently nobody wants to buy , and never will...or ever will...
3 for @10
4 for $10
buy 5 get 6 free 
IF this is a Music Industry related deal, in an attempt to stop the sale of used CD's..well..
scratching head...
Good luck with all of that... |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 7 May 2007 2:41 pm
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Okay, I think I found the Florida statute:
chapter 538 Part I
The problem is that secondhand CDs are not mentioned. Because of their absence as a special class of merchandise, they are lumped into the same statutes that govern pawn shops dealing with much more valuable items. The record keeping requirements for those businesses are strict, as they should be, to prevent easy sale of valuable stolen goods.
There are a lot of exemptions to these laws (outlined in 538.03 definitions), including "A business whose primary business is the sale, rental, or trade of motion picture videos or video games". I really think that Billboard is reacting to an unintentional oversight on the part of the Florida legislature. The lawmakers simply didn't think about the used CD market when they wrote the law.
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| (f) "Secondhand goods" means personal property previously owned or used, which is not regulated metals property regulated under part II and which is purchased, consigned, or traded as used property. Such secondhand goods do not include office furniture, pianos, books, clothing, organs, coins, motor vehicles, costume jewelry, and secondhand sports equipment that is not permanently labeled with a serial number. |
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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