Serendipity35

The Supreme Court has made a ruling on copyright law that might affect colleges. It gave foreign buyers of things like books and movies the right to resell them in the United States without the permission of the copyright owner.

The 6-3 decision (with somewhat surprising dissent by Ginsburg, Kennedy and Scalia) involved the case of a USC student from Thailand who saw a profitable opportunity by purchasing textbooks at lower costs in Thailand and reselling them in the United States.

From the Washington Post

"Had the court come out the other way, it would have crimped the sale of many goods sold online and in discount stores, and it would have complicated the tasks of museums and libraries that contain works produced outside the United States, Breyer said. Retailers told the court that more than $2.3 trillion worth of foreign goods were imported in 2011, and that many of these goods were bought after they were first sold abroad, he said."