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Page Number: 69

28 

KIRTSAENG v. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. 

GINSBURG, J., dissenting 

owner’s §106(3) distribution right.  The Court, in contrast, 
fails to give meaningful effect to Congress’ manifest intent
in §602(a)(1) to grant copyright owners the right to control 
the importation of foreign-made copies of their works. 

2 

Other statutory prescriptions provide further protection 
against  the  absurd  consequences  imagined  by  the  Court.
For example, §602(a)(3)(C) permits “an organization oper­
ated  for  scholarly,  educational,  or  religious  purposes”  to
import, without the copyright owner’s authorization, up to
five  foreign-made  copies  of  a  non-audiovisual  work— 
notably, a book—for “library lending or archival purposes.” 
But  cf.  ante,  at  19–20  (suggesting  that  affirming  the  Se­
cond  Circuit’s  decision  might  prevent  libraries  from  lend­
ing foreign-made books).22 

The Court also notes that amici representing art muse­
ums  fear  that  a  ruling  in  Wiley’s  favor  would  prevent 
museums  from  displaying  works  of  art  created  abroad. 
Ante,  at  22  (citing  Brief  for  Association  of  Art  Museum
Directors  et al.).    These  amici  observe  that  a  museum’s 
right  to  display  works  of  art  often  depends  on  17  U. S. C.
§109(c).  See  Brief  for  Association  of  Art  Museum  Direc­
tors et al. 11–13.23  That provision addresses exhaustion of 
—————— 

22 A  group  of  amici  representing  libraries  expresses  the  concern 
that  lower  courts  might  interpret  §602(a)(3)(C)  as  authorizing  only 
the  importing,  but  not  the  lending,  of  foreign-made  copies  of 
non-audiovisual  works.    See  Brief  for  American  Library  Association 
et  al.  20.  The  United  States  maintains,  and  I  agree,  however,  that
§602(a)(3)(C) “is fairly (and best) read as implicitly authorizing lending,
in addition to importation, of all works other than audiovisual works.”
Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 30, n. 6. 

23 Title 17 U. S. C. §109(c) provides: “Notwithstanding the provisions 
of  section  106(5),  the  owner  of  a  particular  copy  lawfully  made  under 
this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without 
the  authority  of  the  copyright  owner,  to  display  that  copy  publicly, 
either directly or by the projection of no more than one image at a time,
to viewers present at the place where the copy is located.”