It’s a fair presumption that at some time in your life you’ve bought a book, music CD or a DVD. It’s also a fair presumption that you have some form of access to a computer and the internet (as it would be pretty difficult for you to be reading this blog if you didn’t). It is therefore likely that at some point during your use of the internet you’ve bought a digital album, film or book which can be used on a variety of devices including mp3 players, internet tablets and e-readers such as the Kindle.
But what have you actually bought? I can hear you saying ‘well I’ve bought the song/album/movie/book, haven’t I?’ and in a sense you’re right, you have, but it’s not quite the same as when you buy a physical copy in terms of the proprietary rights you acquire.
Say for example you buy a CD, you are able to put that CD on as many computers and mp3 players as you want and you’re free to sell it if you ever feel inclined. Basically, you own what you’ve bought and subject to copyright laws, you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. Unfortunately, this is not the case when you buy a digital version of the same album because the principle of ownership is disappearing in the digital age.
The words ‘buy’ or ‘purchase’ which are used on Apple and Amazon’s digital stores become somewhat of a misnomer when you read the terms and conditions associated with ‘purchasing’ an album, book or movie. This is because what you are actually buying from a digital store is a personal license to use the material, not the absolute right to the music, book or movie but a restricted right to access it. This means you have far less freedom over what you can do with the file; you can’t sell it to Music Magpie, you’re limited to the amount of devices on which the file can be stored (most people will be familiar with this particular iTunes warning) and you can’t even share the music you’ve paid for with your friends because access is linked to the personal account holder.
With all this in mind it would make sense that digital media would be a lot cheaper than physical media. This is not the case because physical media stores are striving to compete with the digital market by selling the same physical copies at a very similar price (and look where that got HMV!). Not only do you get a nice album sleeve or DVD cover with a physical copy but you get ownership rights and the right to control what you do with it, principles that are about to be lost and swallowed up by the digital age of licenses. There is no doubt this is great news for copyright owners and the digital stores because it means more purchases, but it is not good news for the consumer who loses out.
This poses the big question; does the convenience factor of purchasing music from the comfort of your sofa outweigh the reduced control you have over what you purchase? This is the choice the modern consumer is faced with.
