Book it – Supreme Court has final word on first-sale doctrine

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Abstract: Two years ago, a U.S. appeals court held that buyers of copyrighted foreign-made works were not free to resell the works without restriction. In a surprising decision that could have restricted the resale of a wide range of products produced abroad, the court ruled that the first-sale doctrine didn’t apply to such works. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed this decision. This article discusses the case’s background and the Court’s reasoning. Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, No. 11-697, March 19, 2013 (U.S. Supreme Court)