TAA Files Amicus Brief in Gray Market Textbook Case

Sept. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- The Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA), a membership association of 1,400 textbook and academic authors, filed an Amicus brief last week in the US Supreme Court review of the significant gray market textbook case, Kirtsaeng v. Wiley & Sons.

In its brief, TAA supports Wiley’s position that US Copyright law should be interpreted to permit U.S. Copyright owners to prohibit unauthorized importation of books manufactured in, sold in, and intended for use only in foreign markets. The brief also supports Wiley’s assertion that because the Copyright Act does not apply extraterritorially, textbooks manufactured and sold in a foreign country are not “made under this title,” and thus not subject to the first-sale defense.

“This issue, and the impact it has on our members, has long been of concern to TAA and in preparing and filing this brief, TAA has taken a significant step forward in surfacing the problem and advancing the interests of textbook authors across the country,” said Michael Sullivan, a member of TAA’s governing Council.

TAA points out that while the arbitrage in textbooks deeply discounted for foreign markets injures publishers when those books are imported for sale in the US market and displace domestic book sales, the adverse impact is multiplied by the time it filters through to the authors of those books in the form of drastically reduced royalties.

“The importation of gray market materials,” said TAA in its brief, “unfairly deprives authors of the value of their work, and undermines their incentives to develop new textbooks.”

In May 2010, Supap Kirtsaeng was sued in a federal court in New York by John Wiley & Sons for importing and reselling foreign editions of Wiley textbooks, published exclusively for sale abroad, to students in the United States. Kirtsaeng's defense relied on the first-sale doctrine, but the court ruled against Kirtsaeng in August 2011, concluding that the first-sale doctrine did not apply to goods made in a foreign country, and awarded $600,000 to John Wiley & Sons. The Supreme Court agreed April 16 to hear Kirtsaeng’s appeal. Oral arguments in the case are set for fall 2012.

Read the full Amicus Curiae brief: http://www.taaonline.net/news/TAAamicusbriefKirtsaengvWil...

The Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) is the only nonprofit membership association dedicated solely to assisting textbook and academic authors. TAA's overall mission is to enhance the quality of textbooks and other academic materials, such as journal articles, monographs and scholarly books, in all fields and disciplines, by providing its textbook and academic author members with educational and networking opportunities. http://www.taaonline.net