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KIRTSAENG v. JOHN WILEY & SONS, INC. 

Opinion of the Court 

phonorecord.”  (Emphasis added.) 

Thus, even though §106(3) forbids distribution of a copy of, 
say,  the  copyrighted  novel  Herzog  without  the  copyright 
owner’s permission, §109(a) adds that, once a copy of Her- 
zog  has  been  lawfully  sold  (or  its  ownership  otherwise
lawfully  transferred),  the  buyer  of  that  copy  and  subse­
quent  owners  are  free  to  dispose  of  it  as  they  wish.    In 
copyright  jargon,  the  “first  sale”  has  “exhausted”  the 
copyright owner’s §106(3) exclusive distribution right. 

What, however, if the copy of Herzog was printed abroad 

and then initially sold with the copyright owner’s permis­
sion?  Does  the  “first  sale”  doctrine  still  apply?  Is  the 
buyer, like the buyer of a domestically manufactured copy,
free to bring the copy into the United States and dispose of 
it as he or she wishes? 

To  put  the  matter  technically,  an  “importation”  provi­

sion, §602(a)(1), says that 

“[i]mportation into the United States, without the au­
thority  of  the  owner  of  copyright  under  this  title,  of 
copies  . . .  of  a  work  that  have  been  acquired  outside 
the  United  States  is  an  infringement  of  the exclusive 
right  to  distribute  copies  . . .  under  section  106  . . . .” 
17  U. S. C.  §602(a)(1)  (2006  ed.,  Supp.  V)  (emphasis 
added). 

Thus  §602(a)(1)  makes  clear  that  importing  a  copy 
without  permission  violates  the  owner’s  exclusive  distri- 
bution right.  But in doing so, §602(a)(1) refers explicitly to 
the  §106(3)  exclusive  distribution  right.  As  we  have  just 
said,  §106  is  by  its  terms  “[s]ubject  to”  the  various  doc­
trines  and  principles  contained  in  §§107  through  122,  in- 
cluding  §109(a)’s  “first  sale”  limitation.    Do  those  same 
modifications  apply—in  particular,  does  the  “first  sale”
modification  apply—when  considering  whether  §602(a)(1) 
prohibits importing a copy? 

In  Quality  King  Distributors,  Inc.  v.  L’anza  Research