Term: 2010
Docket: 08-1423
Costco Wholesale Corporation, Petitioner v. Omega, S.a.
- Pro
08-1423 COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION V. OMEGA, S.A. DECISION BELOW: 541 F.3d 982 JUSTICE KAGAN TOOK NO PART CERT. GRANTED 4/19/2010 QUESTION PRESENTED: Under the Copyright Act's first-sale doctrine, 17 U.S.C. § l09(a), the owner of any particular copy "lawfully made under this title" may resell that good without the authority of the copyright holder. In Quality King Distribs., Inc. v. L'Anza Research Int'l, Inc., 523 U.S. 135, 138 (1998), this Court posed the question presented as "whether the 'first sale' doctrine endorsed in § 109(a) is applicable to imported copies." In the decision below, the Ninth Circuit held that Quality King (which answered that question affirmatively) is limited to its facts, which involved goods manufactured in the United States, sold abroad, and then re-imported. The question presented here is: Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held that the first-sale doctrine does not apply to imported goods manufactured abroad. LOWER COURT CASE NUMBER: 07-55368, 07-52606
In the 2010 case of Costco Wholesale Corporation v. Omega, S.A., the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to determine whether copyrighted goods made and sold abroad could be resold in the United States without permission from copyright holders under the first-sale doctrine. Swiss watchmaker Omega had sued Costco for importing its watches without authorization and selling them at discounted prices, arguing that this violated their exclusive right to distribute their products under U.S. copyright law. The Ninth Circuit court ruled in favor of Omega, rejecting Costco's argument that it was protected by the first-sale doctrine because it only applies to items manufactured within America. When appealed to Supreme Court, they split evenly (4-4) due to Justice Kagan’s recusal as she had previously worked on this case as Solicitor General; hence lower court's decision stood but did not set a national precedent.
In the Costco Wholesale Corporation v. Omega, S.A., 2010 case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the only justice to provide a written dissenting opinion. She argued that copyright law should not be used as a tool for manufacturers to control distribution and pricing of their products after an initial sale has occurred. This is based on her interpretation of the "first-sale doctrine," which allows owners of copyrighted items to resell those items without permission from the copyright holder. Ginsburg believed this doctrine applied regardless if the first sale happened domestically or internationally, thus disagreeing with Omega's claim that it had exclusive rights over its watches sold abroad but imported into America by Costco without its consent.
