| Baker v. Selden | ||||||||||||||
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| Decided October Term, 1879 |
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| Holding | ||||||||||||||
| Exclusive rights to the "useful art" described in a book are only available by patent. The description itself is protectable by copyright. | ||||||||||||||
| Court membership | ||||||||||||||
| Chief Justice: Morrison Waite Associate Justices: Nathan Clifford, Noah Haynes Swayne, Samuel Freeman Miller, Stephen Johnson Field, William Strong, Joseph Philo Bradley, Ward Hunt, John Marshall Harlan |
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| Case opinions | ||||||||||||||
| Majority by: Bradley Joined by: unanimous court |
Baker v. Morrison Remick Waite, nicknamed "Mott" ( November 29 1816 &ndash March 23 1888) was the Chief Justice of the United States Nathan Clifford ( August 18, 1803 &ndash July 25, 1881) was an American statesman diplomat and jurist Noah Haynes Swayne ( December 7, 1804 &ndash June 8, 1884) was an American Jurist and politician Samuel Freeman Miller ( April 5, 1816 &ndash October 13, 1890) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1862&ndash1890 Stephen Johnson Field ( November 4 1816 &ndash April 9 1899) was an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from William Strong ( May 6, 1808 - August 19, 1895) was an American jurist and Politician. Ward E Hunt ( June 14, 1810 &ndash March 24, 1886) was an American Jurist and politician This is about the pre-World-War-I US Supreme Court justice for his grandson the mid-20th century holder of the same position see John Marshall Harlan II. Selden, , was a leading Supreme Court of the United States copyright case cited to explain the idea-expression dichotomy. Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A landmark decision is the outcome of a legal case (often thus referred to as a landmark case) that establishes a Precedent that either substantially changes the interpretation The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for Legal citation is the legal writing practice of crediting and referring to authoritative documents and sources The idea-expression divide or idea-expression dichotomy is a concept which explains the appropriate function of Copyright laws which are generally designed to
Contents |
Facts
In 1859, Charles Selden obtained copyright in a book he wrote called Selden's Condensed Ledger, or Book-keeping Simplified. Year 1859 ( MDCCCLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for In it the book described an improved system of book-keeping. Bookkeeping (also book-keeping or book keeping) is the recording of all Financial transactions undertaken by an individual or Organization (including The books contained about twenty pages of primarily book-keeping forms and only about 650 words. In addition, the books contained examples and an introduction. In the following years Selden made several other books, improving on the initial system. In total, Selden wrote six books, though, evidence suggests that they were really six editions of the same book.
Selden, however, was unsuccessful in selling his books. He originally believed he could sell his system to several counties and the United States Department of the Treasury. A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. The United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department and the Treasury of the United States government. Those sales never happened. Selden was forced to assign his interest--an interest that apparently was returned to his wife after his death in 1871. Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
In 1867, W. Year 1867 ( MDCCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting C. M. Baker produced a book describing a very similar system. Unlike Selden, Baker was more successful at selling his book–selling it to some 40 counties within five years.
Selden's widow, Elizabeth Selden, hired an attorney, Samuel S. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person Fisher, a former Commissioner of Patents. In 1872, Fisher filed suit against Baker for copyright infringement. Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year 'Copyright infringement' (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by Copyright law in a manner that violates
Procedural history
The trial court held that Baker's books were "in large and material part identical with and infringements of the books of Selden system". The court ordered a permanent injunction to stop Baker from "publication, sale, or otherwise disposing of his book. An injunction is an Equitable remedy in the form of a Court order, whereby a party is required to do or interact with in certain ways all right or to refrain from "
On appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, Baker's counsel argued that Selden's work was not appropriate subject matter for copyright. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary.
Holding
The court opinion, authored by Justice Joseph P. Bradley, first held that a book did not give an author the right to exclude others from practicing what was described in the book:
- "[N]o one has a right to print or publish his book, or any material part thereof, as a book intended to convey instruction in the art, any person may practice and use the art itself which he has described and illustrated therein. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States
- . . .
- "The copyright of a book on bookkeeping cannot secure the exclusive right to make, sell and use account books prepared upon the plan set forth in such a book. "
The court wrote extensively about the distinction between patent law and copyright law. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for Exclusive rights to the "useful art" described in a book was only available by patent. The description itself was protectable by copyright.
Results
The principal holding of Baker v. Selden is codified in §102(b) of the Copyright Act.
See also
External links
- Full text of the decision & case resources from Justia & Northwestern-Oyez
- A Turning Point in Copyright: Baker v. Selden
- The Story of Baker v. Selden
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