The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to publishers
Tuesday, ruling that purchasing books and goods legally abroad and then reselling
them in the United States doesn’t violate U.S. copyright laws. In a 6-3
decision, the court threw out a lower-court ruling against a graduate student
who sold bought cheap textbooks created for foreign markets by a U.S. publisher
at below-market prices.
The court ruled that once goods are lawfully sold, publishers
and manufacturers lose the protection of U.S. copyright laws.
The case started when John Wiley & Sons
successfully sued Thai grad student Supap Kirtsaeng for selling $900,000 worth
of international textbooks to other students in the U.S. A New York court ruled
Kirtsaeng sold the titles without permission and awarded Wiley $600,000.
Advocates against the lower-court ruling claimed that
if allowed to stand, it would hamper the sale of many goods sold online and in
discount stores. Retailers estimated that most of the more than $2.3 trillion
worth of foreign goods imported in 2011 were bought after they were first
purchased abroad.
Dissenting justices argued the court ignored Congress’s
intent to protect companies against low-priced foreign copies of copyrighted
works.
“We are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme court has
decided in favor of supap Kirtsaeng and overturned the Second Circuit’s ruling,”
said Stephen M Smith, president and CEO of Wiley, in a statement about the decision. “It is a loss for the U.S. economy, and students and
authors in the U.S. and around the world.”