Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Georgia

I bought a dvd at Wal-mart for my 8 year old grandson. When I handed it to him out of the bag, the plastic was torn and in fact there was no dvd inside. We tried to exchange the dvd where purchased and were advised that due to the federal copyright law they could neither refund my money and could only exchange it for the same title, of which they had none. The only other option was to find another at another Wal-mart and exchange it there. Wal-mart had the store manager call me. She advised I could have gotten a refund and wanted the name of the clerk who advised otherwise. The manager was supposed to hold a dvd of same title for me,but when I got there after waiting 30 minutes failed to bring the dvd out again so I asked for a refund. Again the clerk made reference to some stupid copyright law which seems to trump fitness of merchantability and failure of consideration. Could you please direct me to the law to which they are referring so I can pursue the correct procedure with Wal-mart corporate?


Asked on 1/01/10, 7:50 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys
Glen Ashman Ashman Law Office also dba Glen Ashman Attorney

Likely the main reason you still have a problem is that you have chosen to treat a customer service issue as a legal problem, and that has delayed a proper response.

Write a NON-legal calm letter to the CEO of Wal-Mart and leave out every reference to law that you gave us. Ask them for a refund and a $25 gift card for them mishandling a routine return. (You can research the CEO's name and address on their website). I bet you get both.

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Answered on 1/06/10, 7:59 pm
Yasha Heidari Heidari Power Law Group, LLC

In simple terms, your breach of contract claim trumps their purported copyright claim.

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Answered on 1/06/10, 8:58 pm
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

Legal jargon for a Wal-Mart return issue is not "simple terms," and throwing in terms neither you nor the clerk understand will likely get you nowhere. Go with the suggestion to simply state your position as a customer who would like a problem solved, without trying to throw in legal terms.

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Answered on 1/07/10, 5:38 am


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