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Scifi Cards
Platinum Card Talk Member
Picture of Scifi Cards
posted
I found this interesting, mostly because it could apply to cards at some point. eBay is pushing for the seller to win because it's obvious that any other outcome restricts trade.

quote:
Citizens for Ownership Rights Collecting Petition Signatures to Protect Rights to Resell

An upcoming Supreme Court case, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, involves an eBay seller who was sued by a textbook publisher for reselling books. The seller, a graduate student and entrepreneurial seller, sold the books to help cover tuition expenses. These were legitimate books that the book publisher manufactured overseas — they were not counterfeit, pirated, or stolen. Yet, the publisher is trying to use U.S. copyright law to stop the book sales and make the seller pay $600,000 in damages – more than 15 times what he made from selling the books.

It is possible that an extreme application of U.S. copyright law might enable manufacturers to force retailers and consumers to first have to obtain permission from the manufacturer before reselling or even donating goods manufactured overseas. This rule could affect most of the goods we use every day, from books to cell phones. Manufacturers would retain ownership of an item no matter how many times it changes owner. This rule could threaten the laws of ownership and resale that we all enjoy.

When you purchase an item on eBay, you should be able to resell it, give it away, or use it as you see fit. Likewise, when you sell an item on eBay, ownership of the item should transfer to the buyer.

Citizens for Ownership Rights (CFOR) is a coalition of public interest organizations asking individuals to stand up for their rights as buyers and sellers. CFOR is currently gathering signatures for a petition that will be sent directly to the President and Attorney General urging them to support the rights of Americans to purchase legitimate goods, resell those goods, give them away, or use them in any legal manner as they see fit. Visit ownershiprights.org and sign the petition to protect your ownership rights.


I can't imagine why anyone would think this is a good thing, especially when it applies to items manufactured abroad. Or am I missing something here???

Ed

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Posts: 5080 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: March 09, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Raven
Diamond Card Talk Member
Picture of Raven
posted Hide Post
Perhaps I don't understand this case, but I can't see how US copyright law applies to the selling of books that were legally obtained from overseas unless you are talking about a massive number of books, which I suspect may be the only reason why a publisher might want to sue.

If this eBay seller bought books for his own use or even a small bulk number and then put them up for resale in the US, I would think nothing of it. He is not re-publishing or coping the books without permission. However, if the seller bought a factory load of these books and than turned around to sell them for profit in a market where the publisher can not sell them, or might want to sell them in the future, I think that would be a problem. Also it might be of interest to the IRS if all proper taxes weren't paid.

However this gets decided I don't see it as giving manufacturers any extra rights once they sell their goods to retailers or consumers. That would be mucking up too many things.
 
Posts: 10398 | Location: New York | Registered: November 20, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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