Thai ex-student wins copyright case at US Supreme Court

Thai academic wins US copyright case

Published: 20 Mar 2013 at 11.25
Online news:

WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court has slapped down publishers with a decision that Thai student Supap Kirtsaeng was acting completely legally when he sold Thai editions of books in the United States.

Mr Supap, a graduate PhD student in mathematics at the University of Southern California, had his family buy low-cost textbooks in Bangkok and send them to him in Los Angeles, where he sold them at lower-than-US prices to help to finance his studies.

He reportedly earned a profit of US$100,000 with the niche business, selling books on eBay and elsewhere, using the name Bluechristine99 to build his reputation.

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robins
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Discussion 16 : 21 Mar 2013 at 11.4616
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@Discussion 13 Also the schools have the option of dropping textbooks from any manufacturer that overcharges for them. I'm surprised and delighted by this verdict, the intellectual property issue has been excessively slighted in the direction of publishing companies too long.
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jacksprat
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Discussion 15 : 21 Mar 2013 at 11.4215
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What the Thai student did was extremely questionable. However, what "Big Copyright" wanted would make it illegal for everyone to resell any book they had legitimately purchased. That is absurd, and the court ruled it was. However, I would be surprised if laws aren't now passed to prevent a repeat of what the Thai student did.
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Victor
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Discussion 14 : 21 Mar 2013 at 10.2914
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The verdict of the US Supreme Court, all 70 pages or so, half of which from the 3 judges who were against it, should be made into a textbook for all law students on patent and trademark all over the world. Without any legal background I skimmed through it in about 10 minutes and only got the last few lines of the last page of the verdict from the majority side of the Supreme Court. But that's enough for me.
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bkk-farang
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Discussion 13 : 21 Mar 2013 at 08.5613
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@ringmaster #10, you write: “The practical result may very well be that consumers and students abroad will see dramatic price increases”
And what happens when the prices of original books go up in markets like Thailand? Students will buy one book and copy it hundreds of times and the publisher loses even more.
Some books are only cheaper in Thailand so that publishers are able to sell them at all; this is not because they have such a good heart.
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streetgecko
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Discussion 12 : 21 Mar 2013 at 08.1412
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Regarding Asian editions: well, whatever's the most competitive.
It works both ways – I often buy books from cheaper UK sources with free shipping, especially at current exchange rates!
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tomb
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Discussion 11 : 21 Mar 2013 at 08.0911
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This should not be seen as a victory of Thailand against the USA, nor a victory of an individual against the system. After all, Supap ran a sort of business and sold thousands of books.

This is a victory for the grey market, aka parallel imports, not more, not less.
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ringmaster
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Discussion 10 : 20 Mar 2013 at 22.2910
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I'm surprised it was a 6-3 decision. The divide wasn't between liberal and conservative lines. Personally, I agree with the ruling but like the article says: Big Copyright is furious. This decision does create a strong disincentive for publishers to market different versions and sell copies at different prices in different regions. The practical result may very well be that consumers and students abroad will see dramatic price increases or entirely lose their access to valuable US resources created specifically for them.
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nitnoi
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Discussion 9 : 20 Mar 2013 at 21.439
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funny that I read WSJ saw the caption of the news but didn't read it until I saw it in BKK post so went back to read detail. Happy to hear the out come. for once PhD from US. showed some intelligence.
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jingreet
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Discussion 8 : 20 Mar 2013 at 21.408
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And just to add for D6 and anyone else who's interested: The dissenting justices (the ones who sided with Big Copyright) were Ginsburg, Scalia and Kennedy, with the rest supporting the majority opinion.
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jingreet
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Discussion 7 : 20 Mar 2013 at 21.237
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This is some great news! The little guy stood up to some preposterous but powerful bullying and won! This is some great news for Mr. Supap and for common sense.
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Thai ex-student wins copyright case at US Supreme Court | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Thai academic wins US copyright case

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