The Kirtsaeng Case

The Kirtsaeng case involved American student Supap Kirtsaeng, who bought cheap textbooks in Thailand and shipped them to the U.S. to sell for a profit. His actions raised legal questions about "copyright exhaustion," which means once a copyrighted item is sold legally, the copyright owner can't control its resale. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that buyers and sellers of copyrighted goods abroad can freely resell them in the U.S., emphasizing that the copyright holder’s rights are exhausted when the item is first sold internationally. This case clarified how international sales and copyright law intersect.