copyright intellectual-property
Legality of second-hand selling and swapping
<p>I was wondering if there are any restrictions in some parts of the world to sell second-hand/share items such as books/CDs due to copyright/intellectual properties?</p>
<p>I'm asking because I know that in my country selling such items or giving it to people is legal because it is just considered as selling one copy of your personal item and not copying the info inside of it.</p>

<p>Under U.S. copyright law, the First Sale Doctrine protects such conduct. As <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1854-copyright-infringement-first-sale-doctrine" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the U.S. Justice Department explains</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The first sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109, provides that an
individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from
the copyright holder receives the right to sell, display or otherwise
dispose of that particular copy, notwithstanding the interests of the
copyright owner. The right to distribute ends, however, once the owner
has sold that particular copy. See 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) &amp; (c).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>U.S. law with respect to the First Sale Doctrine is typical, and copyright law is fairly uniform internationally due to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_copyright_treaties" rel="nofollow noreferrer">some relevant intellectual property treaties</a>. But there are hundreds of countries in the world, and some of them might not include the First Sale Doctrine in their jurisprudence.</p>
<p>For example, I do not know how this would be handled under the laws of the People's Republic of China, or under Islamic law.</p>
