The First Sale Doctrine and Foreign Sales: The Economic Implications in the US Textbook Market

Abstract

This article investigated the impact of the Kirtsaeng decision. After discussing the first sale doctrine, this article presents the issues around implementing a worldwide first sale doctrine. International treaties attempt to ensure that authors can benefit from their work by affording them similar protections. But, a worldwide first sale exhaustion limits the ability of copyright holders to profit from their work. This article tests whether, in the US, the price of textbooks has been affected by the Kirtsaeng decision and finds that the price of textbooks has increased over between 2001 and 2018 but not more rapidly or slowly after the decision. In other words, the decision may not have had any effect (yet).