Your right to resell your own stuff is in peril

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Tucked into the U.S. Supreme Court’s busy 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.

Under the doctrine, which the Supreme Court has recognized since 1908, you can resell your stuff without worry because the copyright holder only had control over the first sale.

Put simply, though Apple has the copyright on the iPhone and Mark Owen does on the book “No Easy Day,” you can still sell your copies to whomever you please whenever you want without retribution.

"By your logic, I could buy a copy of a best seller, scan it, bind it and sell it on eBay. I mean, it’s my paper, my ink, my binder and my copy of the book.

Ahhh if I were you I wouldn't use the word "logic" anymore until you learn the meaning.

Your straw man argument of COPYING an existing work doesn't fly. why you ask because he didn't do such.

He bought books and had them shipped to the USA and as is his right here in the USA he can resell it as he sees fit. He owns it its his to do with as he pleases.

Its called the right of first sale for a reason. The Copyright holder controls the first retail sale after that he has no say in whether the owner of the product sells it or burns it or uses it for toilet paper.

This back door try on controlling all sales of products past the first sale is a power move by Big Media. Either you own it outright or you are renting it.

"Clearly importing them violated the “first sale” lisence agreement. Why would the lisence owner need to depend on customs to enforce his intellectual property rights?"

Then you have no understanding whatsoever of the first sale doctrine. He bought those books from a retail source. He didn't IMPORT them he had them shipped to him. Importing means wholesale purchasing with a business license etc. Like I said he bought them retail And thus the first sale was done. Any sale after that wasn't a first sale. Therefore he has the right to do with the merchandise as he pleases as far as reselling them goes.

If this idiotic ruling stands then by law you will not be allowed to resell ANY thing made over seas without permission from the copyright holder. Apple is salivating at the thought of this stupid ruling being upheld.

"He imported them."

OK if you say so. But being the Customs Office would not allow such a transaction as the copyright clearly states it can't sell as first sale in the USA (Wholesale Imports must pass customs) then please explain how he was able to sell enough of them to make over 1 million dollars.

See the problem here is you don't understand the difference between wholesale and retail and what the right of first sale entails.

I've been selling merchandise all over the globe for over 15 years and purchased goods from overseas sources both retail and wholesale. There is a difference and what this kid did was legal. But the copyright holders want their cake and eat it to. If we still had a legal system they would lose BUT its been bought and paid for so we will see.

In the town of Bloomsburg, PA, you have a hard time selling anyone’s old stuff. There is an ordinance that requires antique dealers to report their business transactions to the local police. I kid you not. Your business records must be submitted to the police, or you’re OUT.

Same approach statewide in LA based upon a law that was passed in 2011. I assume it is in effect and functioning but I haven't researched it any further.

Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything.
But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session.
House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it.
"We're gonna lose a lot of business," says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand items.
"We don't want this cash transaction to be taken away from us. It's an everyday transaction," Guidry explains.
Guidry says, "I think everyone in this business once they find out about it. They're will definitely be a lot of uproar."
The law states those who buy or sell second hand goods are prohibited from using cash. State representative Rickey Hardy co-authored the bill.
Hardy says, "they give a check or a cashiers money order, or electronic one of those three mechanisms is used."
Hardy says the bill is targeted at criminals who steal anything from copper to televisions, and sell them for a quick buck. Having a paper trail will make it easier for law enforcement.
end snip

FR Articles about Louisiana Law and second hand purchases with cash

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Law Bans Cash for Second Hand Transactions

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