Supreme Court sides with First Sale Doctrine

[TonySutton]

Some may remember this case. The split between the justices is very interesting.


The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that textbooks and other goods made and sold abroad can be re-sold online and in discount stores without violating U.S. copyright law.

In a 6-3 opinion, the court threw out a copyright infringement award to publisher John Wiley & Sons against Thai graduate student Supap Kirtsaeng, who used eBay to resell copies of the publisher's copyrighted books that his relatives first bought abroad at cut-rate prices.

http://news.yahoo.com/court-sides-student-case-over-textbooks-141319152.html

[angelatc]

Hurrah. There's one small victory for economic freedom.
Justice Stephen Breyer said in his opinion for the court that once goods are sold lawfully, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, publishers and manufacturers lose the protection of U.S. copyright law.

"We hold that the 'first sale' doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad," Breyer said.


Had the court come out the other way, it would have crimped the sale of many goods sold online and in discount stores, and it would have complicated the tasks of museums and libraries that contain works produced outside the United States, Breyer said. Retailers told the court that more than $2.3 trillion worth of foreign goods were imported in 2011, and that many of these goods were bought after they were first sold abroad, he said.


In a dissent for herself and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the court was ignoring Congress' aim of protecting "copyright owners against the unauthorized importation of low-priced, foreign-made copies of their copyrighted works."


Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, said in a separate opinion that Congress is free to change the law if it thinks holders of copyrights need more protection. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas also were part of the court's majority.

Eff you, Kennedy, Scalia and Ginsburg, who make it sound like this ruling opens the doors for counterfeiting and fakes.

But yes, the alignments are really odd.

[TonySutton]

I don't even understand the basis Kennedy, Scalia and Ginsburg are using. If it isn't counterfeit it should be legal.

[DamianTV]

Im sure eventually we will lose the "priviledge" of selling anything used without having most of the profits being taken back by the few original creators.