Frohman v. Ferris
Illinois Supreme Court
Writ or Error to the Branch Appellate Court for the First District;—heard in that court on appeal from the Superior Court of Cook county; the Hon. Joseph E. Gary, Judge, presiding. This is an appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Court reversing a decree of the superior court in a proceeding begun in the circuit court by plaintiffs in error for an injunction and other relief against defendant in error. There is no controversy as to the facts.
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Writ or Error to the Branch Appellate Court for the First District;—heard in that court on appeal from the Superior Court of Cook county; the Hon. Joseph E. Gary, Judge, presiding. This is an appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Court reversing a decree of the superior court in a proceeding begun in the circuit court by plaintiffs in error for an injunction and other relief against defendant in error. There is no controversy as to the facts. In 1894 Charles Haddon Chambers and B. C. Stephenson, dramatic authors and playwriters, citizens and residents of London, England, created and…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Farmer
Plaintiffs in error base their exclusive title and right to perform said play upon what they contend to be their rights under the common law. Defendant in error contends that the public performance of the play in England with the consent of its authors, without causing it to be copyrighted in this country, was, so far as this country is concerned, such an act of dedication to the public as to extinguish the common law rights of the authors or their assignees in the United States.
At common law the author of a literary composition had an absolute property right in his production which he could…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Palmer v. . De WittNew York Court of Appeals · 1872
- Tompkins v. HalleckMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1882
- Crowe v. AikenU.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illnois · 1870
- Palmer v. De WittThe Superior Court of New York City · 1870
3Cited by3 opinions
- Johnston v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.California Court of Appeal · 1947
- Sheridan v. iheartMedia, Inc.District Court, N.D. Illinois · 2017
- Morton v. RaphaelAppellate Court of Illinois · 1948