[Some interesting legal decisions have just come down the pipe that could affect the time-honored pastime of importing cool stuff from overseas. Jeff brings us his analysis. Read about it below, and see some more coverage from our import-happy pals at Tomopop! - Josh]
On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court pulled out a 6-3 opinion that allows an oversea student to import and sell text books from his home country, for Americans looking to score text books cheap. Normally this is not something within Japanator's wheelhouse, so to speak, but surprisingly it hits a little close to home personally, and maybe for some of you too. Because while we can say it's about the doctrine of first-sale, the name of this game is called reverse importation.
Reverse importation is what gets our Japanese publishers' pants into a knot when they license their wares to American anime publishers at American prices. It happens occasionally with video games and game consoles too, but it's an everyday life sort of thing for the fluent otaku. The Supreme Court opinion above is an American decision affecting only American companies and it directly affects people doing business in America, but the ramifications are international. And also complicated.
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