The U.S. Copyright Act grants a copyright owner certain exclusive rights, including the right to distribute copies by sale or other transfer of ownership. 17 U.S.C. § 106(3). But while these exclusive rights are extensive, they are not limitless. Section 109(a), for one, sets forth the “first sale” doctrine:

“Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner of a particular         copy…lawfully made under this title…is entitled, without the authority of the copyright      owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy.” 17 U.S.C. § 109(a).

In effect, Section 109(a) exhausts the distribution right by permitting the owner of a particular copy to dispose of that copy as she wishes.

Notably, however, the first sale doctrine is itself qualified in that it only applies to copies “lawfully made under this title.” 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) (emphasis added). That this language applies to copyrighted works made and distributed in the U.S. is clear enough. A more difficult question is to what extent the first sale doctrine applies to works produced and/or acquired abroad.

The U.S. Supreme Court partly addressed Section 109(a)’s reach in Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L’anza Research International, Inc., 523 U.S. 135 (1998). In Quality King, the copyrighted works were manufactured in the U.S., but first sold abroad at prices 35% to 40% less than identical U.S. products. Some of the discounted foreign products were then imported back into the U.S. and sold to unauthorized retailers. The copyright owner sued alleging violation of the Copyright Act’s importation provision, 17 U.S.C. § 602(a)(1) (then §602(a)), which makes importation of a copyrighted work without the authority of the copyright owner an infringement of the distribution right. The Supreme Court, however, found that the first sale doctrine exhausts the copyright owner’s right to prohibit importation of U.S. produced works first sold abroad. In other words, the owner of a copy of a U.S. produced work acquired abroad is free to bring that copy into the U.S. without fear of retribution from the copyright holder.

Because Quality King involved only U.S. produced works – which are unquestionably “lawfully made under” the Copyright Act – the Court had no need to consider any broader implications of Section 109(a). And so, the reach of the first sale doctrine in connection with works manufactured abroad remained in doubt after Quality King.

As a graduate student in California, Supap Kirtsaeng (“Kirtsaeng”) learned that publishers often sell their U.S. textbooks for substantially more than the identical books in Thailand. Seeing an opportunity, Kirtsaeng had friends purchase textbooks in Thailand and mail them to the U.S. where he sold them on EBay. By this simple arbitrage, Kirtsaeng generated roughly $900,000 before one the publishers, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (“Wiley”), sued.

Wiley claimed that Kirtsaeng’s unauthorized importation of the foreign-produced textbooks violated Wiley’s distribution right via the Copyright Act’s importation prohibition. Unlike in Quality King, however, Wiley argued that the first sale doctrine did not exhaust its rights because its foreign version textbooks were produced and distributed entirely outside the U.S., and thus were not “lawfully made under [the U.S. Copyright Act],” as required by Section 109(a).

Kirtsaeng countered that “lawfully made under this title” merely means “made in accordance with U.S. copyright law,” i.e., made without infringing copyright. According to Kirtsaeng, because Wiley had authorized the production and distribution of its foreign produced textbooks, they were “lawfully made under [U.S. copyright law]” and thus the first sale doctrine applied. In other words, Kirtsaeng argued, Section 109(a) works a global exhaustion of the copyright holder’s distribution right.

The Supreme Court found – after considerable discussion of statutory construction and the common law history of the “first sale” doctrine – that the phrase “lawfully made under this title” has no geographic significance. Rather, the first sale doctrine applies to copies of works that are lawfully made anywhere in the world. Thus, Section 109(a) effects a global exhaustion of the Copyright Act’s distribution right and the lawful owner of any lawfully made copy, wherever produced and wherever acquired, is free to bring that copy into the U.S. and dispose of it as she wishes.

The Court’s non-geographical interpretation of the first sale doctrine likely will have far reaching effects.

On the one hand, organizations such as libraries, used book dealers, and museums view the Kirtsaeng ruling as a victory because it clarifies that they will not have to seek permission from copyright holders to lend or sell their books or display their artwork acquired from foreign sources. Additionally, the Court’s majority believes its holding will protect the right of American consumers to resell a broad range of foreign produced products that contain copyrighted software.

On the other hand, in the Digital Age, where it is easy to shop for, purchase and ship products globally, Kirtsaeng will greatly limit a copyright holder’s ability to maintain geographic price disparities, as historically necessitated by regional economics. Consequently, one effect of Kirtsaeng may be a trend toward global price equilibration, at least for internationally interchangeable products, such as books. Some goods, however, such as technology products, may be less affected by Kirtsaeng, where various regulations outside of copyright law tend to make the products less internationally fungible.

Kirtsaeng may also foretell a rise in leases or rentals. By its terms, Section 109(a) extends first sale protection to the “owner of a particular copy.” 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) (emphasis added). Lessees are unprotected. So, a copyright holder can circumvent the effects of Section 109(a) by renting works to its customers. In the Internet age, where a myriad of products can be delivered, consumed, and deleted digitally, rental rather than sale may be an attractive way for some industries to protect current regional pricing structures.

Moreover, the Kirtsaeng decision may have implications for the exhaustion doctrine under U.S. patent law. Similar to the first sale doctrine, the exhaustion doctrine limits a patent owner’s exclusive rights in a particular item upon the first authorized sale. In 2005, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals explained that the exhaustion doctrine only applies to the first sale in the U.S. because the U.S. patent system “does not provide for extraterritorial effect.” Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. V. Jazz Photo Corp., 394 F.3d 1368, 1376 (Fed. Cir. 2005). Kirtsaeng, however, casts that reasoning in doubt. While the Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in a case that would have reexamined the exhaustion doctrine, it is widely expected that the Federal Circuit will at some point revisit the issue in light of Kirtsaeng.

Finally, in the wake of Kirtsaeng, one would expect certain rights holders to pressure Congress to rewrite Section 109(a). After Quality King, copyright holders were successful in getting the House to pass a proposed amendment that would have limited Section 109(a) to copies authorized for distribution in the U.S. This proposed “domestic exhaustion” amendment, however, ultimately died in reconciliation. Only time will tell whether copyright holders could ultimately prevail to blunt the impact of Kirtsaeng.