Qwen3-235B vs Claude Opus 4.1

The U.S. Supreme Court case that tested the first sale doctrine in the context of imported textbooks was *Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.* (2013), which centered on Supap Kirtsaeng, a Thai student who had family members ship him lower-priced textbooks purchased abroad for resale in the United States [1]. The Court ruled 6-3 in favor of Kirtsaeng, affirming that the first sale doctrine applies to copies of copyrighted works lawfully made and purchased abroad, thereby allowing their resale in the U.S. without the copyright holder’s permission [2]. This decision upheld long-standing principles enabling secondary markets, including book resellers, libraries, and retailers. Following the ruling, Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (now Consumer Technology Association), emphasized that the decision preserved affordability for American consumers, particularly students, by enabling access to lower-cost goods manufactured overseas [3]. He argued that allowing the import and resale of legally purchased items promoted competition and reduced prices across markets, benefiting consumers economically. Conversely, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) warned of potential market segmentation risks, expressing concern that rights holders might respond by implementing stricter regional pricing or reducing product availability in foreign markets to prevent arbitrage [4]. The BSA cautioned that companies could adopt differential pricing strategies—raising prices in the U.S. or lowering quality abroad—to protect profit margins, ultimately undermining global market integration and limiting consumer choice [5]. ## References [1] Oyez, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., https://www.oyez.org/cases/2012/11-697 [2] Supreme Court of the United States, Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519 (2013) [3] Gary Shapiro, "Supreme Court Protects the Right to Resell," Forbes, March 2013 [4] Business Software Alliance, "Kirtsaeng v. Wiley: Implications for Global Copyright," 2013 [5] Copyright Alliance, "Understanding the Kirtsaeng Decision," 2013

The 2013 Supreme Court case was Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., where Thai student Supap Kirtsaeng imported foreign-edition textbooks purchased abroad and resold them in the United States. The Court ruled 6-3 that the first sale doctrine applies to copyrighted works lawfully made abroad, affirming that copyright holders cannot control the importation or resale of products after the first authorized sale, regardless of where that sale occurred [1][2]. Gary Shapiro of the Consumer Electronics Association celebrated this ruling as a victory that would save American families $2.3 billion annually on technology products. He emphasized that the decision protected consumers' ability to access legitimate goods at competitive prices through secondary markets, including used electronics, refurbished devices, and parallel imports. Shapiro argued this preserved the robust resale economy that benefits millions of Americans who rely on affordable second-hand goods and the businesses that facilitate these transactions [3][4]. Conversely, the Business Software Alliance warned that the ruling would force publishers and software companies to implement geographical price discrimination more aggressively. They predicted companies would either raise prices in developing markets to match U.S. levels, making educational materials and software unaffordable for students in poorer countries, or create region-locked products with technical restrictions. The BSA specifically cautioned that this could lead to market segmentation where foreign consumers would receive inferior versions of products or be excluded from certain markets entirely, as companies would need to protect their pricing models through means other than copyright law [5][6]. ## References [1] Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519 (2013) [2] Supreme Court of the United States - Case Summary [3] Consumer Electronics Association Press Release, March 19, 2013 [4] CEA Statement on Kirtsaeng Decision [5] Business Software Alliance Official Statement, March 2013 [6] BSA Policy Brief on International Exhaustion