Case 1:20-cv-04160-JGK-OTW Document 188 Filed 03/24/23 Page 29 of 47
only ebook editions of print books that were lawfully acquired, IA furthers the goals of copyright’s “first sale” doctrine. This argument is without merit.
A “common-law doctrine with an impeccable historic pedigree,” Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519, 538 (2013), the first sale doctrine is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109(a).[1] The doctrine provides that a “rights holder’s control over the distribution of any particular copy or phonorecord that was lawfully made effectively terminates when that copy or phonorecord is distributed to its first recipient.” ReDigi, 910 F.3d at 655. Thus, “the lawful purchaser of a copy of a book is free to resell, lend, give, or otherwise transfer that copy without violating the copyright holder’s exclusive right of distribution,” and “[t]he copy so resold or re-transferred may be re-transferred again and again without violating the exclusive distribution right.” Id.
Section 109(a) does not excuse IA’s unauthorized reproduction of the Works in Suit. The first sale doctrine limits a copyright owner’s distribution right under § 106(3), but
- ↑ “Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106(3), the owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord.” 17 U.S.C. § 109(a).
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