Then there is the subject of used cd's. I told him that when he bought a used cd he may as well have made an unauthorized copy...becuase the artist does not see any of the money past the initial sale of that cd. Or that when he sells used cd's to stores he may as well be selling audience tapes because he is now making money off of someone else's music.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but I can't see how that theory works. When you sell a cd you don't want, you rarely make money, but rather lose money - say you spend $20, then perhaps get back $10, you have paid out $10 for a cd which you don't even own anymore! Similarly with the buyer, as you said the artist has already got whatever money they are going to with the initial sale. When someone buys it used, there is still only one owner, and hence shouldn't there still only be one payoff to the artist? J.