Supap Kirtsaeng, Dba Bluechristine99, Petitioner v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Decided March 19, 2013. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 11-697 · 568 U.S. 519 (2013) · Cited 145 times

Holding

The “first sale” doctrine applies to copies of a copyrighted work lawfully made abroad.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. American Trucking Associations · 310 U.S. 534 (1940)
• Ardestani v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 502 U.S. 129 (1991)
• Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. · 551 U.S. 877 (2007)
• Palmer v. BRG of Georgia, Inc. · 498 U.S. 46 (1990)
• Russello v. United States · 464 U.S. 16 (1983)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• TRW Inc. v. Andrews · 534 U.S. 19 (2001)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Hartford Underwriters Insurance v. Union Planters Bank, N. A. · 530 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• John R. Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States · 552 U.S. 130 (2008)
• Humphrey's v. United States · 295 U.S. 602 (1935)
• Samantar v. Yousuf · 560 U.S. 305 (2010)
• Central Virginia Community College v. Katz · 546 U.S. 356 (2006)
• Vimar Seguros Y Reaseguros, S. A. v. M/V Sky Reefer · 515 U.S. 528 (1995)
• Department of Revenue of Ore. v. ACF Industries, Inc. · 510 U.S. 332 (1994)
• Isbrandtsen Co. v. Johnson · 343 U.S. 779 (1952)
• Florida Department of Revenue v. Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc. · 554 U.S. 33 (2008)
• Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder · 469 U.S. 153 (1985)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark Int'l, Inc. · 581 U.S. 360 (2017)
• Henson v. Santander Consumer USA Inc. · 582 U.S. 79 (2017)
• Azar v. Allina Health Services · 587 U.S. 566 (2019)
• Pereira v. Sessions · 585 U.S. 198 (2018)
• B&B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Industries, Inc. · 575 U.S. 138 (2015)
• Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. · 579 U.S. 197 (2016)
• Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc. · 594 U.S. 559 (2021)
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States · 585 U.S. 274 (2018)
• Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L. P. · 595 U.S. 178 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).