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8 

KIRTSAENG v. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

U. S. A. Inc. v. Toys “R” Us, Inc., 84 F. 3d 1143, 1149–1150 
(1996).

Under  any  of  these  geographical 

interpretations,
§109(a)’s “first sale” doctrine would not apply to the Wiley 
Asia books at issue here.  And, despite an American copy­
right  owner’s  permission  to  make  copies  abroad,  one  who 
buys a copy of any such book or other copyrighted work—
whether at a retail store, over the Internet, or at a library
sale—could not resell (or otherwise dispose of) that partic­
ular copy without further permission. 

Kirtsaeng,  however,  reads  the  words  “lawfully  made
under  this  title”  as  imposing  a  non-geographical  limita­
tion.  He  says  that  they  mean  made  “in  accordance  with” 
or “in compliance with” the Copyright Act.  Brief for Peti­
tioner  26. 
In  that  case,  §109(a)’s  “first  sale”  doctrine
would  apply  to  copyrighted  works  as  long  as  their  manu­
facture  met  the  requirements  of  American  copyright  law. 
In  particular,  the  doctrine  would  apply  where,  as  here, 
copies are manufactured abroad with the permission of the 
copyright owner.  See §106 (referring to the owner’s right 
to authorize).

In  our  view,  §109(a)’s  language,  its  context,  and  the
common-law  history  of  the  “first  sale”  doctrine,  taken
together, favor a non-geographical interpretation.  We also 
doubt  that  Congress  would  have  intended  to  create  the
practical  copyright-related harms  with which a geograph­
ical  interpretation  would  threaten  ordinary  scholarly,
artistic, commercial, and consumer activities.  See Part II– 
D,  infra.    We  consequently  conclude  that  Kirtsaeng’s 
nongeographical reading is the better reading of the Act. 

A 
The language of §109(a) read literally favors Kirtsaeng’s
nongeographical  interpretation,  namely,  that  “lawfully
made under this title” means made “in accordance with” or 
“in  compliance  with”  the  Copyright  Act.    The  language  of