First Sale Doctrine: The first sale doctrine in copyright law allows the purchaser of a copyrighted work to resell or dispose of that particular copy without needing permission from the copyright owner. Once the copyright owner sells a copy of their work, they lose the right to control that specific copy's distribution. This doctrine enables the free movement of goods and ensures that copyright does not act as a barrier to the legitimate trade of copyrighted works.

Facts:

• John Wiley & Sons (Plaintiff), a New York-based corporation solely awarded license to Wiley India Pvt. Ltd. to exercise exclusive rights over the distribution of certain books in the Indian subcontinent.
• The books were sold with a label that they shall be available for sale only in Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, and not permitted for re-exporting to any country except the above-mentioned.
• Despite the label, a bookseller in Delhi (Defendant), was trading these books to US and UK and causing loss to the Plaintiff.
• Hence, the Plaintiff sued the Defendant for infringement of copyright and pleaded for an injunction to restrain the re-exporting of books to countries outside the Indian subcontinent

Main Issue:

Whether exporting books outside territorial boundaries amounts to infringement of copyright?