The Court reasoned that this holding was dictated by the “first sale” doctrine, which provides that a copyright holder has a right to profit from the first sale of a book, but not its resale.

The holding could prove to be a setback for American companies whose business models depend on the sale of U.S. copyrighted works abroad at low prices. Until now, those companies could prevent the works they sell abroad from being re-imported for sale without their permission.

Read the full article from the LA Times here.