Much of the debate centered around the meaning of "lawfully made under this title," in section 109 of U.S. copyright law. "The owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that copy or phonorecord," .

In its 1976 revision of copyright law, the U.S. Congress focused on preventing pirated copies of products to be sold in the U.S., Rosenkranz argued. The emphasis in the phrase, "lawfully made" was on the word, "lawfully," he said.

Therefore, products manufactured overseas in compliance with U.S. copyright law would be subject to the first-sale doctrine, he said.

If the first-sale doctrine were limited to products made in the U.S., then U.S. companies would have a huge incentive to move manufacturing overseas and limit the resale of their products, Rosenkranz said.

Theodore Olson, representing the textbook maker, argued that is clear in outlawing the importation of copyright-protected materials without the permission of the copyright holder.