Good.
In a 6-to-3 decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court said U.S. copyright owners may not stop imports and re-selling of copyrighted content lawfully sold abroad. The decision is a major victory for American consumers because it allows them to shop worldwide for their copyrighted content. More, it could have far-reaching implications in other industries including health care.
The first-sale doctrine, which the Court upheld in its decision, is a principle that the legal purchaser of a copyright-protected item may dispose of that property anyway he or she sees fit. The court ruled in favor of an immigrant scientist from Thailand, Supap Kirtsaeng, who imported textbooks lawfully printed overseas by a U.S. publisher and sold them on eBay.
While the court’s decision relied heavily on the statutory language governing the first-sale doctrine, the court also explained why the doctrine makes sense in today’s interconnected world where we easily buy and sell products across borders. The court correctly noted that consumers benefit from greater choice and lower prices when technology companies, libraries, used bookstores and retailers can import and sell products without having to ascertain that the U.S. copyright owner approves of each further sale. The court declared that “a geographical interpretation would subject many, if not all, of them to the disruptive impact of the threat of infringement suits.”
If the lower-court opinion in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons had been allowed to stand, content providers could have skirted our copyright laws and reasserted control over the use of sold products simply by moving their manufacturing overseas. The court’s opinion, which reflects the advocacy of the tech and retail communities in support of Kirtsaeng, preserves the rights that the first-sale doctrine guarantees to manufacturers, retailers, libraries, consumers, and the public at large.
