first-sale doctrine

American  

noun

1. a legal principle allowing the purchaser of a lawfully made copy of a copyright-protected work to sell or give away that copy without permission but not to reproduce it.

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Etymology

Origin of first-sale doctrine

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

first-sale doctrine

Thanks to legal concepts like the first-sale doctrine, physical book buyers typically own the media they’ve purchased outright, and they’re allowed to sell it without the original publishers making money.

From The Verge ● Aug. 3, 2022

Because the first-sale doctrine and patent exhaustion, which reflect federal law limitations on the rights of intellectual property holders, are not the only considerations.

From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2013

The first-sale doctrine, which the Court upheld in its decision, is a principle that the legal purchaser of a copyright-protected item may dispose of that property anyway he or she sees fit.

From Forbes ● Mar. 20, 2013

But Kirtsaeng contended that his actions were protected under the "first-sale" doctrine, a provision of federal copyright law that lets owners of "lawfully made" copies sell or dispose of them without copyright owners' permission.

From Reuters ● Oct. 29, 2012

ReDigi says it is legal under the first-sale doctrine, the idea that once someone buys a copyrighted item like a CD or book, that buyer is free to resell it.

From New York Times ● Nov. 14, 2011