First Sale Defense Doesn’t Reach Books Manufactured Overseas, Sold on eBay

• Case Summary:
  An individual who purchased copyrighted books overseas and then sold them online is not entitled to raise the first sale doctrine as a defense, because the doctrine only applies to goods manufactured in the United States.
• Key Takeaway:
  The statutory language of the first sale doctrine is ambiguous with respect to foreign works, but the Supreme Court dicta suggests that it does not apply.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld Aug. 15 a finding of liability against an individual who imported foreign-made editions of U.S. textbooks into the United States and then sold them ...