Report of the Copy-Right Case of Wheaton v. Peters, Decided in the...
The First U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Copyright [Trial]. [Wheaton et al v. Peters et al]. Report of the Copy-Right Case of Wheaton v. Peters. Decided in the Supreme Court of the United States. With an Appendix, Containing the Acts of Congress Relating to Copy-Right. New York: Printed by James Van Norden, 1834. 176 pp. Errata sheet tipped-in between pp. 136 and 137. Octavo (9-3/4" x 6-1/4"). Later library cloth, red and black calf lettering pieces and paper location label to spine, endpapers renewed, hinges reinforced with cloth. Light soiling, a few chips to lettering pieces, crack in text block between front endleaf and title page. Moderate toning, light foxing to a few leaves, faint library stamps, one embossed, to title page, library markings to verso. $250. * Only edition, one of two issues from 1834, the other published in Washington, DC. In this case, the first U.S. Supreme court ruling on copyright, Henry Wheaton, former reporter of the Supreme Court, sued Richard Peters, then the current reporter, for copyright infringement based on Peters's inclusion in his publication, Condensed Reports, of decisions originally reported by Wheaton. The decision of the court stated: "It may be proper to remark that the Court is unanimously of opinion that no reporter has or can have any copyright in the written opinions delivered by this Court, and that the judges thereof cannot confer on any reporter any such right." Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 11538.
Price: $250.00
Book number 70896