How Student's Gray-Market Textbook Scheme Landed in Supreme Court

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) A graduate student’s money-making idea has led to a commercial showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court, with ramifications for publishers, retailers, entertainment companies, manufacturers and consumers.

The court will hear arguments on Oct. 29 in the case of Supap Kirtsaeng, who was ordered to pay John Wiley & Sons Inc. (JW/A) $600,000 for importing the publisher’s copyrighted textbooks from his native Thailand and selling them in the U.S. for a profit. At stake is the future of the so-called gray market, the annual trade in tens of billions of dollars in goods outside their official distribution channels.

The case pits business against business. Retailers that offer gray-market products, led by EBay Inc. (EBAY) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), are joining libraries and second-hand stores in backing Kirtsaeng. The motion picture, music, software and publishing industries are supporting Wiley, arguing that the practice illegally undercuts their U.S. sales.

“This is fundamental to the creative industries,” said Charles Sims, a Washington lawyer who filed a brief on behalf of the Association of American Publishers. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-26/how-supap-kirtsaeng-s-textbooks-idea-led-to-supreme-court.html

[cthulu2016]

1. Gray-market is created BY the producers. They have no valid argument, IMO.

A business is welcome to make its products more costly in one market versus another, but that doesn't mean they can outlaw Americans buyings thing overseas and selling them here.

They are welcome to raise the price of their books in Thailand if they wish to.

[exboyfil]

3. It could come down to customs and duties though

I agree that our judicial system should not be an arm of corporate product differentiation. To say that the intellectual property exists to the resell of a textbook would be simply astonding and would definitely change the landscape.

[WinkyDink]

2. This is the crux: Who owns a product after the original sale?

[hootinholler]

4. You big corporate fuckers want globalization?

Good you got it.

This is also why I prefer actual books over kindle editions, I can't hand my copy of a kindle book to my kid for them to read.