A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights a serious threat of our right, taken for granted by most, to resale our very own items. The first-sale doctrine as it is known allows copyright holders to enforce their rights only upon the initial sale, subsequent transfers, loans, and sales are up to the owner. This is the very foundation on which things like libraries, eBay, and Craigslist function.

 

 

 

The decision could effect your ability to resale items made overseas. The case,  Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, involves a foreign student whom after finding out the same school textbooks could be purchased at a lower price overseas made a profit buying the textbooks, shipping them to the US, and reselling them here.  The copyright holders sued the student successfully in circuit court. If this case stands it would open the door for manufacturers to control the resale of their copyrighted items meaning your iPhone, DVD's, Laptops and other items could soon be off the auction block. Less secondhand items means more new sales and profits, it won't take long for companies to latch onto this.