Intellectual Property Alert: Companies selling copyrighted works in foreign countries beware

In a significant decision that will affect how companies do business abroad, the United States Supreme Court ruled that when a party sells a product protected under U.S. copyright in a foreign jurisdiction, the purchaser of that work may then import and sell it back into the United States under the “First Sale Doctrine.” Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons. In the case, Wiley published textbooks for sale in the United States and authorized a foreign affiliate to publish the same textbook at considerably lower prices than the U.S. editions in foreign markets. Wiley’s affiliate also included a statement in those books that they were only to be sold in that specific country.