Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/11-697_d1o2.pdf
Page Number: 25

Cite as:  568 U. S. ____ (2013) 

21 

Opinion of the Court 

tourist who buys, say, at Shakespeare and Co. (in Paris), a 
dozen copies of a foreign book for American friends might 
find  that  she  had  violated  the  copyright  law.    The  used­
book  dealers  cannot  easily  predict  what  the  foreign  copy­
right  holder  may  think  about  a  reader’s  effort  to  sell  a 
used copy of a novel.  And they believe that a geographical 
interpretation will injure a large portion of the used-book 
business. 

Technology  companies  tell  us  that  “automobiles,  micro­
waves,  calculators,  mobile  phones,  tablets,  and  personal
computers”  contain  copyrightable  software  programs  or
packaging.    Brief  for  Public  Knowledge  et al.  as  Amici 
Curiae  10.    See  also  Brief  for  Association  of  Service  and 
Computer  Dealers  International,  Inc.,  et al.  as  Amici 
Curiae 2.  Many of these items are made abroad with the 
American  copyright  holder’s  permission  and  then  sold 
and imported (with that permission) to the United States. 
Brief  for  Retail  Litigation  Center,  Inc.,  et al.  as  Amici 
Curiae 4.  A geographical interpretation would prevent the 
resale of, say, a car,  without the  permission of the holder 
of each copyright on each piece of copyrighted automobile
software.  Yet  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  foreign
auto  manufacturers  regularly  obtain  this  kind  of  permis­
sion  from  their  software  component  suppliers,  and  Wiley
did  not  indicate  to  the  contrary  when  asked.    See  Tr.  of 
Oral  Arg.  29–30.    Without  that  permission  a  foreign  car
owner could not sell his or her used car. 

Retailers  tell  us  that  over  $2.3  trillion  worth  of  for- 

eign goods were imported in 2011.  Brief for Retail Litiga­
tion Center 8.  American retailers buy many of these goods 
after  a  first  sale  abroad.    Id.,  at  12.    And,  many  of  these
items  bear,  carry,  or  contain  copyrighted  “packaging,
logos, labels, and product inserts and instructions for [the 
use  of]  everyday  packaged  goods  from  floor  cleaners  and 
health  and  beauty  products  to  breakfast  cereals.”    Id.,  at 
10–11.  The  retailers  add  that  American  sales  of  more