Quote:
Originally Posted by whitearrow
The first sale doctrine is a copyright doctrine. Cars aren't subject to copyright because they aren't works of authorship.
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That makes sense, but what about trademarks? From the articles it sounds like this applies to trademarks as well, so cars, iPhones, and pretty much all goods with a trademark would be affected. For example, Harry mentioned that there are already limits on athletic shoes in the U.K.
As I'm rereading the articles, it sounds to me that if I buy a product overseas then First Sell doctrine doesn't apply to me. If I buy the product in the U.S. then I do maintain the rights of First Sell. However, this leads to gray areas such as, do I have the right of First Sell if I buy something in the U.S. but unknown to me the person I bought it from imported it and didn't have the right of First Sell.
More importantly, why should it matter? If I buy something, it is mine. It shouldn't matter if I bought it in Thailand or Texas. Unless I was required to sign some agreement that I wouldn't resell the item I bought then it should be mine to do with as I please. Of course, in the case of books, I own a copy of that book and not the right to the text and thoughts, so I can't make copies of it and sell it, but reselling the copy (the actual book) that I bought should be my right. Otherwise, I don't really own the item that I bought.