How Much Should Control Turn on Ownership? The Alienation of Copyrighted Goods After Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons

Ariel Lavinbuk, May 28, 2013

In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons Inc., the Supreme Court held that the Copyright Act’s first-sale doctrine applies to all copies of a copyrighted work made by or with the authorization of the U.S. copyright owner, regardless of where those copies were made. That means that genuine copies made and sold abroad by a U.S. copyright owner can now be imported into the United States, where they can be resold or otherwise transferred freely-whether the copyright