An eBay auction for a 60GB video iPod preloaded with 11,800 songs (starting bid: US$799) was pulled recently, after the company was alerted to it by USA Today reporter Kevin Maney. According to Mr. Maney, the sale of iPods, as well as other portable devices, preloaded with music, TV shows and movies raises a variety of legal questions.

"Some of those sales may be legal, and some not," said Andrew Bridges, a digital music lawyer who counts eBay among his clients. While fair use is part of copyright law, Mr. Bridges that that "some courts may react badly to this" and see it as a violation of the law, since money is changing hands.

The seller of the offending iPod told Mr. Maney: "I don't see how it's different than selling a used CD. If the music industry asked me not to do it, I just wouldn't do it." The reporter noted another 60GB iPod, preloaded with 10,000 songs plus over 50 movies and TV shows, that recently sold for $551 on eBay. That seller said that the winning bidder had to delete the content as soon as they received the device, if they didn't own the original CDs and DVDs.

Mr. Maney also pointed to a new company, TVMyPod, that sells iPods and allows customers to preload them with CDs, movies and TV shows. In that case, however, the company buys the discs, loads the iPod, and then ships everything to the customer.

However, the act of putting a DVD on an iPod could be a copyright violation, given the fact that it is encrypted to prevent such actions, prompting TVMyPod co-founder David Onigman to ask: "The question that needs to be asked is, if you buy a DVD, are you allowed to put it onto an iPod?"

Thanks to MacNN for the link.