Supreme Court rules for the public–not textbook publishers and foreign manufacturers–in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley. The publishers had argued that anything made abroad (from an iPod to a Toyota to a shampoo bottle) that has a copyright logo on it can never be resold or lent to anyone without the copyright-holder’s permission. It would have been modern “stuff-feudalism.” We wouldn’t own the physical stuff we bought. We’d be renters.
The Court rejected that argument, resoundingly in the opinion’s language, and by a 6-3 vote.
Here is the opinion.
Marvin Ammori 