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Page Number: 26.0

22 

KIRTSAENG v. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

traditional  copyrighted  works,  “such  as  books,  recorded
music,  motion  pictures,  and  magazines”  likely  amount  to
over $220 billion.  Id., at 9.  See also id., at 10 (electronic
game  industry  is  $16  billion).    A  geographical  interpreta­
tion would subject many, if not all, of them to the disrup­
tive impact of the threat of infringement suits.  Id., at 12. 

Art museum directors ask us to consider their efforts to 
display foreign-produced works by, say, Cy Twombly, René 
Magritte,  Henri  Matisse,  Pablo  Picasso,  and  others.    See 
supra, at 10 (describing how §104 often makes such works 
“subject  to”  American  copyright  protection).    A  geograph­
ical  interpretation,  they  say,  would  require  the  museums
to  obtain  permission  from  the  copyright  owners  before
they could display the work, see supra, at 15—even if the 
copyright  owner  has  already  sold  or  donated  the  work  to
a  foreign  museum.    Brief  for  Association  of  Art  Museum 
Directors  et al.  as  Amici  Curiae  10–11.  What  are  the 
museums  to  do,  they  ask,  if  the  artist  retained  the  copy­
right, if the artist cannot be found, or if a group of heirs is
arguing about who owns which copyright?  Id., at 14. 

These examples, and others previously mentioned, help
explain why Lord Coke considered the “first sale” doctrine 
necessary  to  protect  “Trade  and  Traffi[c],  and  bargaining
and  contracting,”  and  they  help  explain  why  American 
copyright law has long applied that doctrine.  Cf. supra, at 
17–18. 

Neither  Wiley  nor  any  of  its  many  amici  deny  that  a
geographical  interpretation  could  bring  about  these  “hor­
ribles”—at  least  in  principle.  Rather,  Wiley  essentially
says  that  the  list  is  artificially  invented.  Brief  for  Re­
spondent  51–52.  It  points  out  that  a  federal  court  first
adopted a geographical interpretation more than 30 years 
ago.  CBS, Inc. v. Scorpio Music Distributors, Inc., 569 F. 
Supp.  47,  49  (ED  Pa.  1983),  summarily  aff ’d,  738  F.  2d 
424 (CA3 1984) (table).  Yet, it adds, these problems have 
not  occurred.    Why  not?    Because,  says  Wiley,  the  prob­