CptStern
suckmonkey
- Joined
- May 5, 2004
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TLDR: Omega (watches) sued Costco for selling Omega watches made overseas through a 3rd party, the court ruled in favor that the right of first sale only applies to works made in the US, works made outside the US do not apply. (In this case , the court found for Omega since the watches were made overseas).
Ars Tech speculates (as well as the EFF), all copyright publishing companies now have to do is print CDs and DVDs and whatnot overseas, plant their US copyright logo on it, and bam, used sales only as allowed by the copyright owner.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...uy-an-imported-watch-do-you-really-own-it.ars
this will also effect resales of imported gadgets
Ars Tech speculates (as well as the EFF), all copyright publishing companies now have to do is print CDs and DVDs and whatnot overseas, plant their US copyright logo on it, and bam, used sales only as allowed by the copyright owner.
Let's say a relative gave you an imported Omega watch over the holidays. It's a nice piece, but it's not exactly your style, so after agonizing over the issue for the appropriate number of months, you decide to sell it over eBay.
Not so fast. Thanks to a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that might not be so easy. In fact, the store that sold it, Costco, shouldn't have sold it in the first place, the court recently ruled, because the doctrine of "First Sale" has limits. Section 109 of the Copyright Act says that a copyright owner of a product has the sole initial right to distribute it. Then the subsequent buyers have the right to "to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy"â??in other words, sell it again.
But now the Ninth Circuit says this doesn't necessarily apply to items in which a company's copyrighted logo was inscribed on a product made abroad, as in this case. The Public Knowledge advocacy group calls this decision "a terrible idea," and has filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, which is reviewing the case.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...uy-an-imported-watch-do-you-really-own-it.ars
this will also effect resales of imported gadgets