The DRM restrictions and click-though agreements ubiquitous in the legitimate music download market may lead us to believe that we license rather than purchase our iTunes/Rhapsody/Napster content. Thankfully the folks at Warner Music have stepped in to clarify that misconception.

According to Reuters, in response to a lawsuit filed by bourbon-soaked-lounge-singer-turned-junkyard-percussion-artist Tom Waits, Warner emphatically contends that downloads are purchases not licenses. Waits claims that under the terms of two 1970s publishing contracts, which call for royalties of either 25% or 50% from revenues derived from third-party licenses, Warner has short changed him, paying out a mere 9% royalty rate for downloads - the same rate he receives for sales of physical copies. In its reply to the District Court for the Central District of California, Warner claims downloads "are sold to customers such as iTunes and Listen.com just as physical product is sold to...Best Buy and Virgin."

If that's true why can't we sell our downloads on eBay? Once again the music industry is talking out of both sides of its collective mouth. But this time it may be forced to choose who it wants to screw more - artists or consumers. Tough call.