An undergraduate from Thailand by the name of Supap Kirtsaeng had gone into the business of reselling "international editions" of textbooks that his friends and family in Thailand would buy and send him which he would then sell on Ebay.
These international editions are often some small fraction of the cost of the textbook on sale in the U.S. and usually differing only in being paperback and on cheaper paper. Mr. Kirtsaeng was able to make quite a bit of change even with cost of international shipping to the U.S. However, the publisher Wiley decided that it did not like this practice, indeed, "international editions" are not supposed to be sold in the U.S. and so they sued Mr. Kirstaeng. The case had gone to the U.S. Supreme Court and, with bad news to Tipsters with popular textbooks with international editions, have held that Mr. Kirtsaeng indeed had a "first sale" right, that is, anyone who purchases something (like a book, CD, DVD, etc.) has the right to sell it to whomever they want. Some rejoice while some weep. Anyway, here's one popular media article on court's verdict: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-copyright-case-supreme-court-rules-that-goods-made-overseas-can-be-resold-here/2013/03/19/9902d560-90b9-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html And more info about the case can be obtained here: http://www.americanbar.org/publications/preview_home/11-697.html I suspect that we'll be seeing more "international editions" of textbooks on campus. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=24425 or send a blank email to leave-24425-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
