Tom Kabinet: The Case of Digital Exhaustion

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to question whether resistance towards a second-hand market for eBooks is misled; whether downstream control is necessary to preserve copyright incentives in a digital market; and whether technological developments could mitigate the risks associated with digital exhaustion. The case of Tom Kabinet has been chosen as the subject of this research as it embodies the debates affecting digital exhaustion and eBooks. This inquiry utilises a doctrinal legal analysis to explore the Kabinet ruling as well as a scoping investigation of the arguments surrounding digital exhaustion and its relationship to the publishing industry. The findings of this study indicate that stakeholders in publishing remain cautious of digital exhaustion. However, the emergence of forwardand-delete technology suggests that a second-hand market for eBooks is not beyond the realm of possibility in the future.