That's not going to work as their iPod is locked and NEEDS to be restored with iTunes before it can even be used. However, previously purchased songs, music videos, audiobooks, eBooks, most TV shows, most movies, and all apps can be downloaded again from the iTunes Store absolutely free. You just have to open iTunes, access the iTunes Store, login with your credentials, click on Purchased, and you will have access to content that you previously purchased and can download it again. Every previously purchased song and app can be downloaded again free of charge.
Content created by the user (i.e. user ripped audio CDs and DVDs) cannot be downloaded from the iTunes Store unless they had previously subscribed to iTunes Match and that content was either matched or uploaded to their iCloud account. That only works for audio content though, user ripped DVDs cannot be downloaded from the iTunes Store. Either way, Apple is not responsible for user created content anyway but they do let people access and download most previously purchased content (all songs, all music videos, all apps, most TV shows, and most movies).