Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Court Rules That Copyright Law Allows Textbook Importation and Resale
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. was featured in U.S. Copyright Law, Supreme Court Debates (Dec. 2012). The following is excerpted from the summary of the unanimous opinion written by Justice Breyer, as prepared by the Court Reporter of Decisions. The “first sale” doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad. Wiley reads “lawfully made under this title” to impose a geographical limitation that prevents Section 109(a)’s doctrine from applying to Wiley Asia’s books. Kirtsaeng, however, reads the phrase as imposing the non-geographical limitation made “in accordance with” or “in compliance with” the Copyright Act,…
