The first sale doctrine decouples intellectual property and physical property. Suppose, at an auction at Sotheby’s, someone bought a contemporary painting by Chuck Close.1 The buyer now owns the physical painting, but the copyright to the painting remains with the owner of the copyright—the painter Chuck Close or whomever Close may have transferred the copyright to.2 Absent the first sale doctrine, if the buyer either sold the painting or displayed it to the public, the buyer would potentially infringe the copyright in the painting.3 The copyright owner has the exclusive right to display copies (including the original, the first copy4) of the painting to the public and to distribute copies to the public.5 However, the first sale doctrine provides that the owner of an authorized copy may display or distribute that particular copy without infringing.