Though many offices on the East Coast were shuttered Monday, the Supreme Court was open for business and heard arguments on the closely-watched Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons case. Lower courts have supported Wiley’s contention that the first-sale doctrine does not apply to goods produced overseas (in this case overseas editions of their textbooks, which they don’t want to see resold in the US), and those books cannot be resold domestically without the manufacturer’s permission. In the closest comparable case, Costco v. Omega, the court divided 4-4 on a similar question regarding watches. (Justice Elena Kagan recused herself because […]
