 |  | ||||||
| |
|
||||||
    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:  | | Stowe v. Thomas, Pennsylvania (1853) Source: The University of Texas Tarlton Law Library Stack 216: Stowe v. Thomas, 23 F. Cas. 201 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1853). Citation: Stowe v. Thomas (1853), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Commentary Record-ID: us_1853b Full title Stowe v. Thomas, 23 F. Cas. 201 (C.C.E.D.Pa. 1853) Full title original language N/A Abstract A case decided by Justice Robert Grier. The case involved a claim of copyright infringement by Harriet Beecher Stowe against a publisher of an unauthorized German translation of her book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". The court decided that a translation was not a copy of the original and therefore did not infringe copyright. The decision epitomized the traditional approach that conceptualized copyright protection in terms of the limited right to print copies. From this approach followed a narrow understanding of the scope of copyright protection and of the entitlements it included. When Stowe v. Thomas was decided, this traditional approach was in decline. It was superseded by a new understanding of copyright as the protection of an intellectual work, irrespective of the exact form or medium of reproduction. The transition was reflected in the fact that nineteenth century copyright commentators harshly criticized the Stowe v. Thomas decision and in the explicit legislative addition of the translation entitlement to copyright protection in 1870. The commentary discusses the case, the related doctrinal and conceptual changes in copyright law, and some of the economic and social context of these changes. Bibliography Homestead, Melissa J. "When I can Read my Title Clear": Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Stowe v. Thomas Copyright Infringement Case." 27 Prospects 201 (2002). ___. American Women Authors and Literary Property, 1822-1869. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Kaplan, Benjamin. An Unhurried View of Copyright. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967. Related documents in this database Author N/A Publisher N/A Location Pennsylvania Year 1853 Language English Source The University of Texas Tarlton Law Library Stack 216: Stowe v. Thomas, 23 F. Cas. 201 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1853). Physical description N/A Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Aston, Richard (1717-1778) Bacon, Francis (1561-1626) Bayard, Jean-François Alfred (1796-1853) Blanc, Etienne (1805-1874) Brewster, Benjamin Harris (1816-1888) Burnet, Dr. Thomas (c.1635-1715) Burns, Robert (1759-1796) Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de (1547-1616) Copley, John Singleton, 1st Baron Lyndhurst (1772-1863) Curtis, George Ticknor (1812-1894) Delalain, Jules (1810-1877) Donizetti, Gaetano (1797-1848) Euler, Leonhard (1707-1783) Godson, Richard (1797-1849) Goepp, Charles (1827-1907) Grier, Robert Cooper (1794-1870) Homer (fl.700 B.C.-?) Hutton, Hugo Rudolph (fl.1852) Lumley, Benjamin (1811-1875) Mansfield, William Murray, 1st Earl (1705-1793) Merlin, Philippe-Antoine (1778-1854) Pardessus, Jean-Marie (1772-1853) Parker, Thomas (1667-1732) Perkins, Samuel C. (fl.1853) Perkins, Samuel H. (fl.1853) Renouard, Augustin-Charles (1794-1878) Saint-Georges, Jules-Henri Vernoy de (1799-1875) Stowe, Calvin Ellis (1802-1886) Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth, née Beecher (1811-1896) Thomas, F. W. (fl.1837-1853) Wallace, John William (1815-1884) Webster, Daniel (1782-1852) Webster, Noah (1758-1843) Willes, Edward (c.1723-1787) Persons referred to in commentary Brewster, Benjamin Harris (1816-1888) Burns, Robert (1759-1796) Curtis, George Ticknor (1812-1894) Drone, Eaton Sylvester (1842-1917) Godson, Richard (1797-1849) Goepp, Charles (1827-1907) Grier, Robert Cooper (1794-1870) Hutton, Hugo Rudolph (fl.1852) Jewett, John P. (fl.1852-1855) Kane, John Kintzing (1795-1858) McLean, John (1785-1861) Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872) Perkins, Samuel C. (fl.1853) Perkins, Samuel H. (fl.1853) Stowe, Calvin Ellis (1802-1886) Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth, née Beecher (1811-1896) Thomas, F. W. (fl.1837-1853) Willes, Edward (c.1723-1787) Places referred to America Belgium Europe France Paris Pennsylvania Philadelphia Prussia Rouen Russia Trenton, New Jersey Places referred to in commentary America Belgium England Great Britain Philadelphia Prussia Russia Legislation referred to Statute of Anne, 1710, 8 Ann. c. 19 French Copyright Act 1793 Prussian Statute Book 1794 (ALR) Russian Council of State decree (1830), on the duration of copyright U.S. Copyright Act 1831, 21st Cong., 2d Sess., 4 Stat. 436 Prussian Copyright Act 1837 Belgian copyright legislation (1814, 1817) U.S. Industrial Designs Protection Act 1842, 5 Stat. 543 Legislation referred to in commentary Anglo-French Copyright Treaty 1851 International Copyright Act, 1852, 15 & 16 Vict., c.12 U.S. Copyright Act 1870, 16 Stat. 198 U.S. International Copyright Act, 1891 (Chace Act) Cases referred to Burnet v. Chetwood (1721) 2 Mer. 441 Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303 Wyatt v. Barnard (1814) 3 Ves. & B. 78 D'Almaine v. Boosey (1835) 1 Y. & C. 288 Rosa v. Girardin, Rouen Court of Appeal (1845) Bayard & Donizetti's heirs v. Lumley (1850-52) Jollie v. Jacques, New York Distr. Ct (1850) Goodyear v. Day, New Jersey Distr. Ct (1852) Stowe v. Thomas (1853) Cases referred to in commentary Burnet v. Chetwood (1721) 2 Mer. 441 Millar v. Taylor (1769) 4 Burr. 2303 Cary v. Kearsley (1804) 4 Esp. 168 Bramwell v Halcomb (1836) 2 My & Cr 737 Gray v. Russell, 10 F.Cas. 1035 (C.C.D. Mass. 1839) Folsom v. Marsh (1841), Cir. Ct. Mass. Story v. Holcombe (1847), Cir. Ct. Ohio French v. Rogers, 9 F. Cas. 790 (C.C.E.D.Pa. 1851) Bayard & Donizetti's heirs v. Lumley (1850-52) Stowe v. Thomas (1853) O'Rielly v. Morse, 56 U.S. 86 (1854) Institutions referred to Court of Appeal (Rouen) Opéra-Comique, Paris Pennsylvania District Court Théâtre-Italien, Paris Institutions referred to in commentary Court of Cassation (Paris) John P. Jewett & Co., American publishing firm (Boston) Pennsylvania District Court U.S. Congress U.S. Supreme Court Key words author/publisher relations authors' remuneration authorship, theory of copying, concept of creativity idea/expression ingenuity piracy property theory, authors' property reprints reputation translation, right of translations, of contemporary works 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). | |||||
 | |||||||
| Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK | |||||||
