U.S. Supreme Court,
Intellectual Property
Apr. 10, 2013
High court's 'first sale' ruling threatens market segmentation
The U.S. high court acknowledged that its decision "will make it difficult, perhaps impossible, for publishers (and other copyright holders) to divide foreign and domestic markets."
Andrew J. Thomas
Partner
Jenner & Block LLP
Phone: (213) 239-5100
Email: ajthomas@jenner.com
Harvard Univ Law School; Cambridge MA
Andrew represents content owners in copyright, trademark and First Amendment matters. CONTENT MATTERS is a monthly column devoted to matters of interest to those who create content of all kinds (entertainment, news, software, advertising, etc.) and bring that content to market. Our hope is to shed light on key issues facing the creative content community. If you have questions, comments or topic ideas, let us know. Because content matters.
CONTENT MATTERS
Can a copyrighted work lawfully made and acquired overseas be imported into the U.S. without the copyright owner's consent? Yes, said the Supreme Court by a 6-to-3 vote in its highly anticipated March 19 decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, No. 11-697.
The court's ruling effectively eliminates copyright law as a tool to police parallel imports, or "gray-market" goods, and requires copyright owners to reth...For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
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