You’re in London for business, and you impulsively pick up the newest Harry Potter book in Heathrow for the plane ride, not realizing that this is a limited edition British only version. When you’re done, you try to donate it to the local charity thrift store. They won’t take it, because you are guilty of willful copyright infringement for improperly distributing a good manufactured abroad and not authorized for sale in the US.

This is the issue heard by the US Supreme Court this week.

Gray goods are genuine branded goods (not stolen, counterfeit, unauthorized or pirated) that are sold outside of an authorized sales territory or by non authorized dealers in an authorized territory. Typically gray goods are sold at prices lower than those of authorized channels.