Evil

You got my last one. Have fun.

I'm not sure when I will get anymore.

Buford T Pusser

Here you go everyone. If you'd like to join try this:

http://www.lala.com/invite/usatoday



Don't forget to thank me.

DamDavila

Thanks for the invite

JP5683

Here's the Terms of Service for LaLa.

https://www.lala.com/frontend/action/termsservice

I went on last night and entered my email and got the invite this morning. I didn't know about the USA Today thing.

And I haven't registered yet. Something about all this smells fishy.

illennium

Evil:

I really appreciate that you sent me an invite. However, I didn't receive it I should have known better than to trust Hotmail this time... Oh well. I'm sorry to have wasted one of your invites.

Evil

That sucks that you didn;t get it. Oh well. You should try the USAToday link!

illennium

I did (thanks Evil and Buford!) and already someone is sending me a Mice Parade CD! This seems like a very cool site, although they need to work out certain mechanics. Also, I am a collector so whether or not I continue as a member depends on whether others send me cases and liner notes. Of course, I will always send them myself.

This is definitely a site that will benefit from network effects--the more people that use it, the better it will be (unless it's overrun by jackasses, of course). Also, the legal issues are going to be dicey, as the record companies could argue that the site turns a blind eye to piracy.

Shiv Shankly

This sounds like a good idea, but if I'm reading their help section correctly, you don't send the actual jewel case, just the disc and the inserts, assuming you're kind enough to send them?

DamingR

I really don't see there being a legal issue. According to the First Sale doctrine, once you purchase something, it's yours it use as you like or resell, so long as you do not copy, distribute, make derivitave works, etc.

You can sell your CDs or trade them or whatever. That physical copy is yours. If you choose to make MP3s of the CDs before you trade them, then that's your problem, not the website's.

BTW, I haven't signed up yet, but it sounds interesting.

SlingshotBandit

Me too?



defofstyle @ aol . com

illennium

I know, I'm actually a copyright lawyer

Grokster lost their Supreme Court in part because they facilitated copyright infringement. There was an added fact there--they actually advertised the potential of the product to make and distribute copies of copyrighted works--but the Court has not in general been sympathetic to technologies that facilitate infringement.

At oral argument in Grokster, a couple Justices basically said, "Under current doctrine, Grokster should win. What else can we use to nail them?" They ended up importing a doctrine of active inducement from patent law that had not previously been used in copyright cases. They've shown that they're willing to work around precedent to help the music industry and send the message that people can't hide behind the technologies they develop.

Evil

No more invites sorry. Try the USA Today link.

DamingR

Yeah, but Grockster involved online file sharing. This involves swapping physical CDs. Don't you think it's apples and oranges? There is a much higher chance of me wanting a physical CD to listen to and keep than with Grockster. I don't know -- I don't see the correlation.

atlantamoi

Thanks for the USA Today link. I was goofing around and added a few discs in my want list and lo and behold was sent a CD the next day before I even added any in my have list. Now I have to come up with something to trade! Actually, I have a zillion Christian CDs I'll never listen to anymore so I'll give those a shot on trading. What's great about this site is that you don't have to match the have/want with the same trader. This really opens up the chances of getting what you ask for.

Michael Corvin

I signed up as well.

I added about 100 cds(half decent, half crap), and 7 users wanted some of what I listed as I was listing it! Very cool. Unfortunately, 3 of them disappeared before I could confirm.

Hopefully I start getting some things. Do you get a shipping notice if one you want is headed your way?

illennium

Yes, I agree. My point about Grokster was just that the Court is willing to be flexible to help curb what they see as a serious threat of piracy, not just in the file-sharing context but elsewhere as well.

There have historically been industry-friendly exceptions carved out from the first sale doctrine, such as the record rental act of 1984, which said you can't rent records/CDs. This went against first sale but the record industry lobbied hard and was more powerful at the time than the movie studios so it won that carve-out.

Everyone's chipping away at the first sale doctrine. In fact, I'm currently writing an article on that very topic.

On lala.com: I'm very excited about the concept. They need to work out some kinks, and I really want some way of ensuring that I get liner notes, but it's a very exciting site for people like me who have tons of wants and boxes and boxes of neglected CDs. I joined a couple days ago and already have 6 CDs coming my way, including one out-of-print disc that goes for $40 or more on Half.com. Very cool.

Canis Firebrand

That was my experience as well so far. I signed up yesterday with the USA Today link. I added about 13 cds to my want list.
Then added about 3 to my have list.
I got my welcome email.
Then an email saying my initial shipping supplies are on their way.
Then, I got an email stating that a cd I wanted was on the way.

Evil

So far I have shipped about 65 CD's, and received about 25. No complaints about the service so far.

illennium

So what's everyone's user name? I want to browse some collections.

Mine is illennium (please send inserts).

A-aron

this is a nice idea, but the problem I see is much like the one I have with another service like this (I guess I can not put the name here as the system changes it to spam...) (its the same idea but with DVDs). As of today, I have sent out 6 DVDs to others, but have not received a single title from the 10 on my want list. Now, I understand that hard-to-find titles may take longer to receive, but there is the risk that you could send, send, send and never receive a darn thing.

grunter

So it's "worth it" to you to send out 65 discs and get less than half that many back in "wants?"

I'm not seeing the benefit here. If this site works on a one-for-one trade principle, shouldn't you be getting back 65 discs?

illennium

Personally, I like the idea of sending a CD to someone who has requested it. I have about 300 CDs lying around that I no longer listen to and if I can send them to people who have taken some active step to indicate that they want them, as opposed to someone who just wants free or cheap stuff, that's cool by me.

Also, I'm a CD collector and like encouraging the practice. Downloading makes people lazy and casual about music so it's nice to connect with some other hardcore fans/collectors.

I just joined 3 days ago and so far my ratio is 5 to be sent/6 to be received. I bet Evil's ratio is 65/25 by choice--he's chosen to send out so many but didn't have to.

I buy most of my CDs for $1-$2, so it's not a bad value for me, but I don't think this is really about value. It's more about getting rid of stuff you don't want in a way that helps others and getting stuff you do want in return.

Evil

Exactly. Well put.

Michael Corvin

I feel I'm going to fall into that category. I've agreed to ship 5, but I won't do any more until I get a couple.

I know my wants are more obscure(Rhapsody, Kamelot, Sonata Arctica, etc), but I really don't want to be sending out a bunch of CDs for nothing. Even if they are worth that much.

Shiv Shankly

I agree. I have eight discs that are wanted by others and I've agreed to ship three more. I have two on the way. I'm waiting to see how the first couple turn out before shipping anything else. I'd like to keep it relatively even in terms of what I give versus what I get.