When flying back to the United States from abroad, be sure to discard your foreign newspaper before going through customs. If not, it may get confiscated, along with your oversized bottle of lotion. For your own protection, of course.
As extreme as this may sound, that is the interpretation of U.S. copyright law advanced in a case just argued before the US Supreme Court on October 29, 2012.
The case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley Sons, Inc., involves the textbook resale business of Supap Kirtsaeng, a native of Thailand who came to the United States in 1997 as a mathematics student at the University of Southern California. Like many foreign students studying in the United States, he noticed that textbooks were available for much lower prices back home. Kirtsaeng had family members in Thailand make legal purchases of textbooks and ship them to him in the Unites States. Then, like most college students do with their textbooks, he sold the books on sites such as eBay. Kirtsaeng generated approximately $900,000 in revenue by selling textbooks published by the plaintiff Wiley, and other companies. Kirtsaeng?s books were virtually identical to the U.S. editions, though each was marked to say it was not to be exported to another part of the world.
A Manhattan federal jury found Kirtsaeng liable for copyright infringement after he sold eight copies of Wiley textbooks without permission and awarded Wiley $600,000.
At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine of copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those products.
The first-sale doctrine plays an important role in copyright and trademark law by limiting the rights of a copyright holder or trademark owner. The doctrine supports the distribution chain of copyrighted products, library lending, gifting, video rental, and secondary markets for copyrighted works, enabling individuals to sell their legally purchased books or CDs to others. Under this doctrine, which the Supreme Court has recognized since 1908, you can resell your stuff without any worry because the copyright holder only has control over the first sale.
On the 29th, the Supreme Court justices weighed copyright protections for publishers, creative artists and manufacturers in a global marketplace in a case that has attracted the interest of Costco, eBay and Google. The outcome has important implications for consumers and multibillion dollar annual sales online and in discount stores.
The court?s biggest issue is determining if it matters where the books were produced and first sold. The justices? answer to those questions is of enormous interest to discount sellers like Costco and online business like eBay and Google that offer good prices on many products that were made abroad. The decision from the highest court in the land is also important to many Americans, as the decision will affect the American traditions of hand-me-downs and yard sales.
Source: http://www.ipbrief.net/2012/11/22/the-future-of-copyright-law/
brown recluse spider wiz khalifa taylor allderdice eddie royal iditarod nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.