# What is Perfectly Legal to Give Away for Free, but Illegal to Sell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 6, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735 "2005-05-06T19:28:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735/41 "2005-05-09T13:47:42Z")
We’ve drifted from the original question though… I’ll grant that there are lots of things you can give away, but not sell. ## -FROM THE OP- Conversely, is there anything that is perfectly legal to sell, but illegal to give away? I can’t think of anything, can anyone else? _to the Taxedermy question_ What if the person who brought the bird in, doesn’t retrieve the bird. What is done with the stuffed bird? I know there is a market for stuffed deer heads, I’d imagine there is one for other mounts as well. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735/42 "2005-05-09T15:10:23Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > -FROM THE OP- > Conversely, is there anything that is perfectly legal to sell, but illegal to give away? Someone mentioned prescription drugs, which I think applies here, beyond the free sample or two. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735/43 "2005-05-09T18:17:47Z")
Marine mammal parts. Because they don’t want a market created for protected animal parts, it is illegal to sell any part of a marine mammal in the US. However, with a collection permit from NMFS, you can collect parts, turn them into preserved specimens, and give them away to educational and scientific institutions. ---
**Author:** ![raz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735/44 "2005-05-09T18:34:01Z")
> [@butler1850](#): > > _to the Taxedermy question_ > What if the person who brought the bird in, doesn’t retrieve the bird. What is done with the stuffed bird? I know there is a market for stuffed deer heads, I’d imagine there is one for other mounts as well. Like I said, there are some weird rules regarding taxidermy. Usually when you take in a bird to get stuffed, you would pay a percentage up front, then pay the rest after the taxidermist has finished, so I don’t know why someone would not retrieve their mount. In that case, I guess the taxidermist would have to keep it. It is ILLEGAL to sell game birds that you have shot, but if a game bird (like a pheasant or quail) was pen-raised, then those can be mounted and sold to anyone. If you see mounted birds on Ebay or something, they will be pen-raised. If not, it is illegal. I’m sure there are some exceptions but I can’t think of any right now. I am not a taxidermist but I dabbled with it for a year or so and learned a little bit about the business. It is a very time-consuming process and a good deal of money is involved. It is not unusual for deer head mounts to run upwards of $800. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735/45 "2005-05-09T22:42:39Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > In line with **Smiling Bandit** , I believe that I can sing copyrighted songs (written by others) to you all day for free, completely legally, but can’t charge you for it. Nitpick: I believe that only counts if you aren’t singing it on any form of media, such as, say, national TV. When I read this, the first thing that came to mind was that episode of Sports Night where they dinged Dan Rydell because he was singing Happy Birthday during a broadcast – the station, IIRC, had to pay royalties. Rydell was rather wound up about it. (Actual lawyers will have to back me up on whether this is true or not, but it’s plausible) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-perfectly-legal-to-give-away-for-free-but-illegal-to-sell/302735.md?page=2)