Posted on 10/07/2012 2:48:27 PM PDT by NonValueAdded
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Tucked into the U.S. Supreme Court’s agenda this fall is a little-known case that could upend your ability to resell everything from your grandmother’s antique furniture to your iPhone 4.
At issue in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons is the first-sale doctrine in copyright law, which allows you to buy and then sell things like electronics, books, artwork and furniture, as well as CDs and DVDs, without getting permission from the copyright holder of those products.
[snip]
That’s being challenged now for products that are made abroad, and if the Supreme Court upholds an appellate court ruling, it would mean that the copyright holders of anything you own that has been made in China, Japan or Europe, for example, would have to give you permission to sell it.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Oh my good Lord.
How can something like this be enforced.
I get the history and exchange of stolen goods, like everything the government touches - unintended results.
The way the law reads I’d either have to set up a charge/debt card capability or take a check.
Yea, like I am having a garage sale and do either of these.
Thanks for the link, I will take a look.
(A bit off the subject, I saw a show the other day called “Storage Wars”, its about selling foreclosed storage units. All transactions must be cash. And gasoline, many stations give a $0.05 per gallon discount, guess that will stop.)
Well, thanks again.
Also note: your governments already do this.
Any resale of a titled object - house, auto, boat, plane, etc, - is re-taxed without regard to any prior tax paid. They'll support the corporations before the People!
Very interesting. Thanks for posting. I saw that link reading zerohedge tonight.
Personally, I don't feel that there is a gun show loophole, but if you can't sell your own stuff without permission of the manufacturer/copyright holder, then this could change the wall all things are sold, including firearms.
Personally, I don't feel that there is a gun show loophole, but if you can't sell your own stuff without permission of the manufacturer/copyright holder, then this could change the wall all things are sold, including firearms.
BTTT
Nice work. I would guess today you're keeping your head above water.
But he was buying his inventory at full retail pricing, not at a wholesale price as normal sellers would. His behavior is exactly what happens each Christmas as opportunistic early arrivers buy all available pieces of that holiday’s “hot” item and immediately offer them at triple the price on eBay. You may remember the shortage of PlayStations or XBoxes or Tickle-me-Elmo dolls. How is what this guy did any different, adjusting for the scale of his operation?
We’re gonna have to be like the Japanese and Charlie....
It’s just the ‘gray market’.
Gray markets are a natural consumer response to price discrimination on the part of producers, where they will sell the same product in one country at a much higher or lower price than in another - as in the textbook example.
Some years ago when the dollar hit extreme highs, I was traveling in Europe. The big rage at the time was buying European cars and shipping them to the states. I almost bought a Ferrari for $17,000 - but it was right-hand drive, so declined.
There was a huge industry of changing cars from European standards to US standards (Emissions, lights, etc.).
As currencies now begin the race to the bottom, we can expect similar opportunities. If the dollar crashes, a lot of cash can be made shipping European cars to Europe - BMWs and other cars currently cost a lot less in the USA than here in Europe. If the dollar crashes, used BMWs, Volvos and other popular European models will begin getting exported...
I don’t want to pretend to know everything, but if you can purchase direct from a manufacturer overseas I don’t know of a problem with reselling. I believe you have to be a business with an import license to directly import (and you need to clear customs which can be done with a broker or in the case of small packages it’s done with the customs declaration on the air waybill). But if someone bought at retail overseas, shipped to you and you resell there are no issues that I know of (but that doesn’t mean I know everything lol). Generally speaking the barrier is freight costs (most people have no idea how expensive freight is). If you want to find out what the tariffs are look up the harmonized trade lists to see the import duties.
But a lot of people do have home businesses where they are buying wholesale and selling ebay.
Alas - that money went back to pay for a semester at college. :) I’m doing ok, but still a long way to go.
I do a fair amount of data entry and I use Open Office exclusively.
Textbooks are a scam, but photocopying them and selling them is illegal under copyright law.
So?
Its none of the Gub'ments business if I buy and sell items and make a profit except for taxes I owe.
If he didn't pay his taxes then fine hi,. but having a Constitutional challenge on first sale rights so "Big Publishing" can keep their text book monopoly was not the original intent established by the founding fathers when they wrote the Constitution.
"Big Media" and "Big Publishing" have lobbied Congress with hundreds of millions of dollars until they've got the copyright laws fixed where they can fleece the public over and over. Now they have this back-handed Constitutional challenge that if it is upheld will remove the right of consumers to re-sell their legally bought goods without ponying up more cash to the Copyright Mafia.
They can all kiss my ass.
Ahhh, if you make a profit, no matter if you have a business or not, you owe taxes on that profit.
In fact if you own a business most likely you will owe "less taxes" because you can usually write off things individuals can't.
So I and the remainder of the students were supposed to do without any readings whatsoever for the term?
The books had already been ordered and paid for and the textbook company said they had ‘lost’ the order and could not fill the order, nor provide refunds.
I was fulfilling the contract that they themselves had voided, and helping out the students that they screwed over.
We have some of the most stupid IP laws in the US imaginable.
When I was in school, I bought a few textbooks from a friend from Thailand. My professor got really mad, as it was his book, but couldn’t do anything about it.
I agree with you. Nonetheless, that’s how this system works.
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