OPEN finance expert Mike Periu on the Supreme Court case that could drastically affect the resale of used goods and copyrighted items.
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the case of Publisher John Wiley & Sons versus Thai graduate student Supap Kirtsaeng. While studying in the U.S., Kirtsaeng realized that the same textbooks used by college students here are available for sale in foreign countries at a much lower price. He had his relatives buy textbooks and send them to him in the U.S. where he subsequently sold them on eBay. Kirtsaeng made $100,000 in profit on textbook sales of $900,000.
Publishing companies say that this sale violated copyright laws because the books were not meant for sale in the United States. Sellers of used goods and marketplaces like eBay support Kirtsaeng and say that this sale falls under the “First-sale doctrine” which permits the buyers of copyrighted materials to resell, lend and gift their purchases. If the Supreme Court supports publishers, it could severely restrict the freedom to resell copyrighted goods.
About Mike Periu
Mike is a seasoned executive with experience in small business finance and management. He is the founder of Proximo, LLC a leading provider of corporate, consumer and small business education and training services with an emphasis on finance and technology.
Mike Periu is also a leading national voice for individual empowerment through financial education and entrepreneurship. He has been interviewed over 500 times in national and international media, including NBC, Univision, CNN en español, Telemundo, HITN, TVE, RTE, SBS, MegaTV and others.
Mike writes regularly for American Express OpenForum, Yahoo! Finanzas and is a Huffington Post contributor.
Mike has degrees in Finance and International Business from Georgetown University. He is on the Board of Directors of the Council for Economic Education and was a Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation’s Labs for Enterprise Creation.
