> U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Books Printed and Sold Abroad May Be Freely Resold in the U.S. Because the Copyrights Are Exhausted Under the First-Sale Doctrine

In any case, it’s perfectly legal for me to make and sell a geo-locked device in another country, and it is the importer’s problem if fails to work elsewhere. That doesn’t tend to happen with physical books, obviously.

It sounds like Sol-Ark would have preferred that Deye not sold the products, and may even be able to sue Deye, but nobody illegally acquired anything.