It appears as if the United States will see a new major development in copyright law in the near future. On March 20, Maria A. Pallante, the register of Copyrights in the U.S. Copyright Office, gave a speech in the House of Representatives. In her speech, she stated that there will soon be new developments in U.S. copyright law, explicitly stating that the U.S. must begin “the next great copyright act”. This is in response to the increasing threats that illegal online distributors have posed to the creators of original works. As is to be expected, debate has begun on whether or not these reforms are necessary, and to what extent they will be expanded upon. As this speech was made relatively recently, it is early to begin coming up with conclusions as to what is the right course of action. We must wait and see what developments occur, as well what others have to say on the issue, before coming up with a correct conclusion.

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2013/04/10/comprehensive-copyright-reform/id=37826/

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