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

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

Quite a lot about copyright law, the First Amendment and first-sale doctrine, but at the end of the day it reinforced what we already knew: Get off other people’s platforms.

From New York Times • Mar. 10, 2022

The Copyright Office’s 2001 opposition to a digital first-sale doctrine was grounded in part on the legitimate concern that people might resell copies of digital works while also retaining them.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2013

Just as the survival of the first-sale doctrine in 1985 allowed the home video market to thrive, the Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday could have potentially significant applications beyond just textbooks or, more broadly, digital content.

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