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Page Number: 5

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

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash­
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 11–697 
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SUPAP KIRTSAENG, DBA BLUECHRISTINE99, 

PETITIONER v. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC.
 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 

APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
 

[March 19, 2013]

 JUSTICE BREYER delivered the opinion of the Court. 
Section  106  of  the  Copyright  Act  grants  “the  owner  of
copyright  under  this  title”  certain  “exclusive  rights,”
including  the  right  “to  distribute  copies  . . .  of  the  copy­
righted  work  to  the  public  by  sale  or  other  transfer  of 
ownership.”  17  U. S. C.  §106(3).    These  rights  are  quali­
fied, however, by the application of various limitations set
forth in the next several sections of the Act, §§107 through
122.  Those  sections,  typically  entitled  “Limitations  on
exclusive  rights,”  include,  for  example,  the  principle  of 
“fair  use”  (§107),  permission  for  limited  library  archival
reproduction,  (§108),  and  the  doctrine  at  issue  here,  the 
“first sale” doctrine (§109).

Section  109(a)  sets  forth  the  “first  sale”  doctrine  as

follows: 

“Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3) [the 
section  that  grants  the  owner  exclusive  distribution
rights], the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord 
lawfully made under  this title . . .  is entitled, without 
the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or other­
wise  dispose  of  the  possession  of  that  copy  or