YES, ReDigi is LEGAL. ReDigi has structured its marketplace to honor and observe the rights of copyright owners, not to avoid or undermine them. As some have expressed concern, due to lack of understanding, it' s worthwhile explaining our position.

Way back in 1908, the Supreme Court of the United States established the " First Sale Doctrine." In summary, it says that the copyright holder gets his or her royalties during the first sale, and does not have claims on it when it is resold. Quoting Wikipedia:

"The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e., sell, lend or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained. This means that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy ends once ownership of that copy has passed to someone else, as long as the copy itself is not an infringing copy."

So, first, it is important that a user who desires to sell a song in the ReDigi Marketplace legally owns the downloaded copy of the song the user wishes to sell. Users cannot sell something that they do not own. It is obvious that you cannot sell the apartment you are renting, cannot sell the car you are leasing and cannot sell the book you are borrowing from the library. Many sites let users choose either to " Buy" or " Rent," for example, a movie. It is OK for users to sell the purchased movie, but not the rented one. Putting this in the context of ReDigi's marketplace, ReDigi first enables a seller to verify that the seller owns a non-infringing copy by running it through the ReDigi technical verification process, and determining its eligibility for resale on ReDigi. ReDigi then helps the user ensure that once an item is sold, the seller will not willfully use/possess any copies of the sold item in violation of the rights of the copyright owners. (There may be reasons other than copyright violation why a file may not be eligible for resale, so a determination of ineligibility does not necessarily mean that a file is illegitimate or pirated.) In this manner, ReDigi helps provide the knowledge and tools for its users to understand and comply with copyrights. And if a copy of a previously sold file reappears on a seller' s computer or synced device, and the seller fails to delete it after notice from ReDigi, the seller' s account with ReDigi may be suspended or terminated.

Finally, it is worthwhile pointing out the difference between file sharing services and ReDigi. If you own a music file, that file is copied into the computer's memory whenever you listen to it. This copying is legal. Making copies for your own use is also generally permissible. Making unauthorized copies of music files and handing them out or making them available to anyone who wants them is not legal.

ReDigi does not share files and does not make it easy to share files. ReDigi will not allow its users to sell music files if it discovers copies of those music files are already offered for sale by another user. ReDigi does not snitch, but it makes it difficult for users to infringe copyright law in this manner. Unlike other music services, ReDigi itself does not sell from a master clone or share files. For example, if ten people offer the same song for sale, then there are ten different, uniquely identifiable music files in the ReDigi system, each properly logged into inventory, assigned a specific inventory identification number and sold on a first listed, first sold basis.

Used bookstores are very popular, and at least since 1908, no one questions their legality nor checks that the seller did not first photocopy a book before the sale. There is also a market for the sale of used music CDs, despite the fact that there is no practical protection against first ripping the songs before selling the CD. With the introduction of the ReDigi music file organizer, we believe that ReDigi makes a significant contribution to copyright compliance well beyond any method previously available in any secondary music market.

It is always ReDigi' s aim to help its users appreciate the value of legal digital music.