Court: Reselling Books Bought Abroad Isn\u27t A Copyright Violation - (Quotes: Mark McKenna), NPR’s Morning Edition

Court: Reselling Books Bought Abroad Isn\u27t A Copyright Violation interview by Dan Bobkoff quotes Mark McKenna, NPR’s Morning Edition March 20, 2013 DAN BOBKOFF, BYLINE: Once you buy a book in the U.S., you\u27re free to lend it, throw it away or sell it. This is called the First Sale Doctrine, says law professor Mark McKenna of Notre Dame. MARK MCKENNA: This is why there are used book stores. BOBKOFF: But the question at stake in this case was whether that still applies to products sold and made in another country. Grad student Supap(ph) Kirksang(ph) made tens of thousands of dollars having his family buy textbooks in his native Thailand and them selling them to Americans at a profit. The publishing company John Wiley and Sons sued him for copyright infringement. But the Supreme Court ruled in his favor, saying the First Sale Doctrine applies no matter where the product was bought. McKenna says the majority was thinking about more than just textbooks. If the case had gone the other way... MCKENNA: You know, you might not be able to resell your car if your car is manufactured abroad, because it has a lot of copyrighted things in it