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    Core documents by: Date Place Core documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States All documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States Original language: English French German Italian Latin Browse documents by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse commentaries by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse database by: Key words Editors' login:  | | Wheaton v. Peters, Washington D.C. (1834) Source: The University of Texas Tarlton Law Library Stack 215: Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. 591 (1834). Citation: Wheaton v. Peters (1834), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Record-ID: us_1834 Full title Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. 591 (1834) Full title original language N/A Abstract The first copyright decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and a landmark case in the field. While the case is best known for its rejection of common law copyright in the United States, its significance is also attributable to other factors. The commentary briefly discusses five significant aspects of the litigation and of the Supreme Court's decision. First, the case established the principle that there existed no post-publication common law copyright in the United States, and that post-publication protection could only be attained within the statutory framework. Second, the case reopened the theoretical debate over literary property more than fifty years after it was officially settled in Britain. The parties' arguments, the Justices' opinions and the public debate surrounding the case contained competing constructions of copyright as a limited state-granted entitlement or as a pre-political natural property right. While rehearsing the British literary property debate, the American version took place in a somewhat different ideological, economic and political context and thus produced new variants of the conceptual structure underlying copyright thought. Third, the factual background of the case--revolving around a dispute between two reporters of the Supreme Court over a condensed version of the Court's reports--involved the question of the propriety and extent of copyright protection in official state-related materials such as laws and case-law reports. The discussion surrounding the case laid the foundations for future law and thought about this topic. Fourth the dispute and the actions of the parties illuminates the changing status and character of the Supreme Court reporter during the early nineteenth century. Finally, the litigation exposed an intriguing and complex array of personal relationships between the various protagonists involved, including judges, litigants and lawyers. Bibliography Abrams Howard B. "The Historic Foundation of American Copyright Law: Exploding the Myth of Common Law Copyright." 29 Wayne L. Rev. 1119 (1983). Joyce, Craig. "The Story of Wheaton v. Peters, in Intellectual Property Stories." In Jane C. Ginsburg and Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss eds. New York: Foundation Press, 2006. ____. "'A Curious Chapter in the History of Judicature': Wheaton v. Peters and the Rest of the Story (of Copyright in the New Republic)." 42 Hous. L. Rev. 325 (2005). McGill, Meredith L. "The Matter of the Text: Commerce, Print Culture, and the Authority of the State in American Copyright Law." 9 American Literary History 1, (1997). Related documents in this database Author N/A Publisher N/A Location Washington D.C. Year 1834 Language English Source The University of Texas Tarlton Law Library Stack 215: Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. 591 (1834). Physical description N/A Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Anne (1665-1714) Arden, Sir Richard, 1st Baron Alvanley (1744-1804) Aston, Richard (1717-1778) Baldwin, Henry (1780-1844) Blackstone, William (1723-1780) Brent, Daniel Carroll (1770-1841) Burrow, Sir James (1701-1782) Camden, Charles Pratt, 1st Earl (1714-1794) Carey, Henry Charles (1793-1879) Carey, Matthew (1760-1839) Charles II (1630-1685) Chase, Samuel (1741-1811) Christian, Edward (1758-1823) Cranch, William (1769-1855) Dalison, William (d.1559) Donaldson, Robert (fl.1817-1831) Duponceau, Peter Stephen (1760-1844) Eldon, John Scott, 1st Earl of (1751-1838) Ellenborough, Edward Law, 1st Baron (1750-1818) Erskine, Thomas, 1st Baron (1750-1823) Godson, Richard (1797-1849) Grigg, John (fl.1831) Grose, Nash (1740-1814) Hale, Sir Matthew (1609-1676) Hobart, Sir Henry (d.1625) Hopkinson, Joseph (1770-1842) Ingersoll, Joseph Reed (1786-1868) Kent, James (1763-1847) Lea, Isaac (1792-1886) McKean, Thomas (1734-1817) McLean, John (1785-1861) Madison, James (1751-1836) Mansfield, William Murray, 1st Earl (1705-1793) Marshall, John (1755-1835) Maugham, Robert (1788-1862) Paine, Elijah (1757-1842) Penn, William (1644-1718) Peters, Richard, Jr. (1780-1848) Plowden, Edmund (1518-1585) Sergeant, Thomas (1782-1860) Story, Joseph (1779-1845) Thompson, Smith (1768-1843) Vattel, Emerich de (1714-1767) Washington, Bushrod (1762-1829) Webster, Daniel (1782-1852) Webster, Noah (1758-1843) Wheaton, Henry (1785-1848) Willes, Edward (c.1723-1787) Yates, Joseph (1722-1770) Yorke, Philip, 1st Earl of Hardwicke (1690-1764) Persons referred to in commentary N/A Places referred to England Germany New York Pennsylvania Washington Places referred to in commentary N/A Legislation referred to Star Chamber Decree 1566 Licensing Act, 1662, 13 & 14 Car.II, c.33 Statute of Anne, 1710, 8 Anne, c.19 Connecticut Copyright Statute 1783 Maryland Literary Property Statute 1783 Massachusetts Copyright Statute 1783 New Hampshire Copyright Statute 1783 New Jersey Copyright Statute 1783 North Carolina Literary Property Statute 1785 Virginia Copyright Statute 1785 New York Copyright Statute 1786 U.S. Constitutional Copyright Clause 1789 U.S. Copyright Act 1790, 1 Stat. 124 (1790) U.S. Copyright Act 1802 (Amendment of 1790 Act), 2 Stat. 171 (1802) Copyright Act, 1814, 54 Geo.III, c.156 U.S. Copyright Act 1831, 21st Cong., 2d Sess., 4 Stat. 436 Legislation referred to in commentary N/A Cases referred to Roper v. Streater (1672) Bac. Abr. 6th ed., Vol.IV, 209 Stationers' Company v. Seymour (1677) 1 Mod. 256 Stationers' Company v. Parker (1686), King's Bench Blackwell v. Harper (1740) 2 Atk. 93 Pope v. Curl (1741) 2 Atk. 342 Tonson v. Walker (1752) NA, c.11 1106/18, 3 Swans 672 Tonson v. Collins (1762) 1 Black W 321, 1 Black W 329 Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303 Donaldson v. Becket (1774) 4 Burr. 2408, 2 Bro. P.C. 129 Bell v. Walker and Debrett (1785) 1 Bro.C.C. 451 Harrison v. Hogg (1794) 2 Ves. Jun. 323 Beckford v. Hood (1798) 7 D. & E. 620 Cary v. Kearsley (1804) 4 Esp. 168 Nichols v. Ruggles (1808), 3 Day 145 Percival v. Phipps (1813), 2 Ves. & Beam. 19 Newton v. Cowie (1822) 4 Bing 234 Ewer v. Coxe (1824), 4 Wash. C. C. Rep. 490 Pennock & Sellers v. Dialgoue (1829), 27 U. S. 1 Wheaton v. Peters (1834) 33 U.S. 591 Gurney v. Longman, 13 Ves. 493 Cases referred to in commentary Donaldson v. Becket (1774) 4 Burr. 2408, 2 Bro. P.C. 129 Wheaton v. Peters (1834) 33 U.S. 591 Institutions referred to Court of Chancery, England House of Lords Matthew Carey & Sons, Philadelphia (publishing firm) Star Chamber Stationers' Hall U.S. Congress U.S. Supreme Court University of Oxford Institutions referred to in commentary U.S. Supreme Court Key words common law copyright constitution, US excluded subject matter formalities inventors law books natural rights originality perpetual protection property analogies property theory property theory, authors' property Responsible editor Oren Bracha Copyright status Original document is out of copyright. In so far as these scans are protected by copyright, they are made available on the same terms as translations and commentaries (see home page). | |||||
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| Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK | |||||||
