Nate Anderson at Ars has some more details of exactly what the recently revealed EU-Canada trade negotiation is proposing in the way of a resale right. He answers my question, Canada does indeed have its own version of the first sale doctrine. The resale right being discussed, though, currently exists in Europe so this is another example of the ratcheting action of copyright normalization.
Europe has actually had such a resale right since 2001, and the treaty is an attempt to extend that right to Canada. Europe’s Directive 2001/84/EC says that the right covers only “works of graphic or plastic art such as pictures, collages, paintings, drawings, engravings, prints, lithographs, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics, glassware and photographs, provided they are made by the artist himself or are copies considered to be original works of art.”
Nate also includes the rational, as tenuous as it seems, as well as a very apt question: how first sale may play out with digital copies. This follows the arguments made around licensing versus transfer as exemplified by the Glider case. I think Nate is right, that the question is going to be increasingly cast in this light before it is ultimately resolved one way or the other.
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