US Supreme Court backs student in dispute over used textbook sales

The millions of Americans who sell used items on eBay and at garage sales, flea markets or church raffles got a big victory Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court ruled that copyrighted items made overseas -- and that includes not only books but also CDs, DVDs, computers, watches and anything else with copyrighted material in it -- are covered by a federal law that says a person who buys such a product is free to turn around and sell it.

The ruling came in a case involving Supap Kirtsaeng, a student from Thailand who was surprised by the high cost of academic textbooks when he arrived in the U.S. to attend c ollege. He asked his parents to search bookstores back home and send him much cheaper English language versions -- published overseas and sold at a fraction of the price -- of the same texts.

This is in on NBC News. Great news for those who sell old stuff on places like ebay or Craig's list.
(Please move this thread if another Forum would be more appropriate)

www.nbcnews.com...#/busines s/supreme-court-backs-student-dispute-over-used-textbook-sales-1C8932489

Originally posted by davidchin

The millions of Americans who sell used items on eBay and at garage sales, flea markets or church raffles got a big victory Tuesday in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court ruled that copyrighted items made overseas -- and that includes not only books but also CDs, DVDs, computers, watches and anything else with copyrighted material in it -- are covered by a federal law that says a person who buys such a product is free to turn around and sell it.

The ruling came in a case involving Supap Kirtsaeng, a student from Thailand who was surprised by the high cost of academic textbooks when he arrived in the U.S. to attend c ollege. He asked his parents to search bookstores back home and send him much cheaper English language versions -- published overseas and sold at a fraction of the price -- of the same texts.

This is in on NBC News. Great news for those who sell old stuff on places like ebay or Craig's list.
(Please move this thread if another Forum would be more appropriate)

www.nbcnews.com...#/busines s/supreme-court-backs-student-dispute-over-used-textbook-sales-1C8932489

Wait, is that really another win for the little guy? About time sanity seems to be returning to the world.

reply to post by inverslyproportional


Depends if you are a small publisher or writer for technical/educational texts. Although, it's my opinion that such ventures shouldn't be done for the money. (And money comes in via different means aka. professional development, future opportunities.)

And even if it's entertainment, those shouldn't be considered lost sales. They should be considered free advertising. If someone doesn't have the money to spend, they won't. Simple. When I was younger I used to borrow nearly everything from friends. I lent out my own.

Today I buy it because I have the means.

Can't get blood from a stone. Someone should tell the RIAA, et al.