eBay frets as right to resell comes under scrutiny

eBay has launched a grass roots campaign to defend America’s first sale doctrine, as a Supreme Court hearing approaches that could subject second-hand and resale trades to the approval of rights-holders.

The online auctioneer is lobbying in defense of the first sale doctrine, and has launched eBay Main Street to mobilise its merchants.

The first sale doctrine — in essence, your right to sell your property — will be put under the spotlight in a case sparked by a student reselling textbooks bought outside the USA.

At issue is a decision by a lower court that as far as books are concerned, the doctrine only applies to copies made in America — a decision that forbids what Australians would recognise as parallel imports.

Rather than being confined to books, however, the Appeals Court ruling in the case of Kirtsaeng v John Wiley & Sons soon to be examined by the Supreme Court covers all copyright works — via redwolf.newsvine.com