Costco v. Omega
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08-1423 | 9th Cir. | Nov 8, 2010 | Dec 13, 2010 | 4-4 | Aff'd by a divided Court | OT 2010 |
Holding: An equally divided Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's holding that the first sale doctrine applies only to copyrighted items that are made and distributed in the United States. (Kagan, J. recused).
Plain English Holding: An equally divided Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's holding that the "first sale' doctrine applies only to copyrighted items that are made and distributed in the United States. The Court's order establishes no precedent. (Kagan, J., recused)
Judgment: Affirmed by an equally divided Court on December 13, 2010. (Kagan, J., recused).
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Copyright defense restricted (Final update 12:13 p.m.) (Lyle Denniston, December 13, 2010)
- Last week’s oral arguments: in Plain English (Lisa Tucker, November 13, 2010)
- Argument recap: The Court considers an expanded first-sale doctrine in the import context (Kali Murray - Guest, November 10, 2010)
- Argument preview: The "first-sale doctrine" and foreign-made goods (Anna Christensen, November 3, 2010)
Briefs and Documents
Merits Briefs
- Brief for Petitioner Costco Wholesale Corp.
- Brief for Respondent Omega, S.A.
- Reply Brief for Petitioner Costco Wholesale Corp.
Amicus Briefs
- Brief for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Amazon.com, Inc., Gamestop Corp., Quality King Distributors, Inc., Sam’s West, Inc., and Target Corporation in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Public Citizen in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Entertainment Merchants Association, and the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Public Knowledge, American Association of Law Libraries, American Free Trade Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Medical Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Ebay, Inc., Google, Inc., NetCoalition, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, and the Internet Commerce Coalition in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Intel Corporation in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the American Intellectual Property Law Association in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for the Association of American Publishers in Support of Respondent
- Brief for Intellectual Property Owners Association in Support of Respondent
- Brief for American Watch Association in Support of Respondent
- Brief for Business Software Alliance in Support of Respondent
- Brief for American Bar Association in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the United States in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the Fujifilm Corporation, Seiko Epson Corporation, Epson America, Inc. and Epson Portland, Inc., in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the Association of American Publishers in Support of Respondent
- Brief for Software & Information Industry (SIIA) in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., and the Recording Industry Association of America in Support of Respondent
Certiorari-Stage Documents
- Petition for certiorari (unavailable)
- Brief in opposition (unavailable)
- Petitioner’s reply (unavailable)
- Supplemental brief for petitioner (unavailable)
- Amicus brief of Public Citizen (unavailable)
- Amicus brief of Public Knowledge Electronic Frontier Education (unavailable)
- Amicus brief of the Retail Industry Leaders Association et al. (unavailable)
- Amicus brief of eBay (unavailable)
- Amicus brief of the Entertainment Merchants Association et al. (unavailable)
- Brief for the United States as amicus curiae
- Reply brief for petitioner in response to United States amicus brief (unavailable)
