Oddly enough, FARK made note of this yesterday, but I wanted to link it here: it is one of the few things that’s actually made me happy recently.
Yesterday, on a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of “first sale”. Specifically, the Court stated that, if you legally purchase copyrighted material in another country, you have the right to rent out or resell it in the United States.
In the case before the Court, Supap Kirtsaeng, a student at Cornell and USC, got his family to purchase textbooks in his home country of Thailand, where they were cheaper. His family shipped the textbooks to him in the United States, where he re-sold them for a profit. The publisher John Wiley & Sons sued Mr. Kirtsaeng, alleging this violated copyright law. Wiley and Sons won a $600,000 award in lower courts, but the Supreme Court decision tosses out the lower court verdicts.
Two points I’d like to make:
- Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, and Kagen. Ginsburg and Kennedy wrote a dissenting opinion. Scalia partially joined the dissenting opinion, but also took exception to parts of it. I have not found the actual opinions online yet; when I do, I will link to them.
- It might be worth keeping in mind that John Wiley and Sons was in favor of restricting your right to lend or resell things you’d purchased. I’d suggest that you consider the role of John Wiley and Sons in this case very carefully before purchasing any publications from John Wiley and Sons.