EU pushes Canada to drop first-sale principle for art

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Here’s a strange story: the European Union is leaning hard on Canada to adopt a new “resale right” under which creators would receive compensation—even when the item is resold. Currently, in both the US and Canada, the basic principle of “first sale” applies, which says that a creator or manufacturer gives up the right to control further uses of that work after it has been sold, or to keep taking a cut of the profits. Creative industries have long hated this; when we took a lengthy look at first sale one year ago, we noted that the music and book businesses have long wanted a cut of resale profits.