Doctrine of Exhaustion: The exhaustion doctrine in copyright law means that once a copyright owner sells a copy of their work, they can't control what happens to that copy, like its resale or rental. It ensures that copyright law doesn't restrict the movement of goods after the initial sale.

First sale Doctrine: The first sale doctrine in copyright law says that once a copyright owner sells a copy of their work, they can't control what happens to that copy. The buyer can resell, rent, or dispose it without needing the owner's permission.

Facts:

• Cinema Paradiso ‘Video Library’ (Defendant), carried out the business of offering movie titles on a rental basis.
• Amongst others, the Video Library had imported and was offering original DVDs of films, the copyright of which vested with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (Plaintiff).
• Though some of these films had not been theatrically released in India, they were available in DVD format in the United States. As the films had first been published in the United States under the International Copyright Order, 1999 read with Section 40 of the Act, the Plaintiff was entitled to the copyright in these films in India.
• The Defendant had not obtained a license from Plaintiff or its affiliates for offering the DVDs on hire.
• The Plaintiff did not render licenses for offering copies of its films on a rental basis for the territory of India.
• Thus, the Plaintiffs sued the Defendant for permanent injunction and damages, claiming that the latter had infringed their copyrights in respect of films, by hiring, and offering for hire, infringing copies, in India.
  

Main Issue:

Whether the importation of copies of cinematographic works and offering such copies on a rental basis constitute an infringement of copyright?