Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in the important case of Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, where a university student bought many copies of a textbook from an East Asian distributor at reduced prices, and then sold them for a sizable profit. Kirtsaeng, the student in question, tried to argue that since the transactions occurred overseas, he was not subject to the usual laws. However, the Supreme Court ruled against him, stating that copyright laws concerning material created in the U.S. hold true regardless of where transactions with such items are made. This case has gained much attention in recent weeks, and this ruling will likely set a very important precedent for the future of copyright laws.
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=48f95e15-a179-4741-9489-628967cebd8b
I think this is a very interesting case. The fact that the transactions happened to occur overseas makes the ruling of the case much more tricky. However, I personally think that the student did still partake in copyright infringement.
This case establishes another aspect of copyright laws. If this student simply bought her own books from her own country it would be acceptable. However, she attempted to make a profit and therein lies the problem.
This is interesting and troubling for me. I personally like to buy things from overseas, but I have found some things easier when they have been brought over to be sold at say, a convention. This ruling essentially says that doing so is illegal. It makes me wonder how people who tend to distribute this way will deal with it.