Last month the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-to-3 decision in the case of
Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons found that Supap Kirtsaeng had the right to resell, in the United States, textbooks that his friends and relatives purchased in Thailand. The Thai math student at Cornell University generated roughly $900,000 in revenue by reselling books that can be purchased at a much lower price in Thailand than in the U.S.
Publisher typically sell their titles at much lower prices in some countries than others making it possible for students in poorer countries to have access to the material. John Wiley & Sons argued that Mr. Kirtsaeng infringed its copyright and short-circuited its ability to segment markets by price when he imported the books without permission. They pointed out that if they charged American prices in Thailand the Thai students would not be able to afford the books.
The court held that the “right of first sale” in the copyright law allows the purchaser to resell anywhere in the world, for any price they can get, a product legally purchased. There is no restriction in the law regarding transporting such a product across national boarders.
The international editions of the textbooks purchased in Thailand were nearly identical to the U.S. version of the book. Kirtsaeng sold copies of eight different titles through eBay and earned about $100,000 in profits on the $900,000 in sales.
See the Supreme Court decision
here.