Supreme Court Upholds First Sale Doctrine

langelgjm writes "In a closely-watched case, the U.S. Supreme Court today vindicated the first-sale doctrine, declaring that it "applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad." The case involved a Thai graduate student in the U.S. who sold cheap foreign versions of textbooks on eBay without the publisher's permission. The 6-3 decision has important implications for goods sold online and in discount stores. Justice Stephen Breyer said in his opinion (PDF) that the publisher lost any ability to control what happens to its books after their first sale abroad."

First banning NSLs, now this?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think I speak for every politician and lobbyist when I ask "Who the hell are these nine impostors, and what have they done with the real Supreme Court justices?"

Re:When will this apply to medicines?

[alen]

you can already resell your Oxycontin scripts on the street. i know of people who may or may not make $1000 a month doing so.

but copyright is the least of your problems