Record Guild of America, Inc. v. United States

This is a suit for refund of a Federal manufacturer’s excise tax imposed upon plaintiff as the manufacturer of certain phonograph records. The legal question presented for our determination is whether plaintiff was the statutory “manufacturer” of these records and liable for the tax imposed by section 3404(c)1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939.

Prior to April 14, 1949, plaintiff was the actual manufacturer and wholesaler of children’s phonograph records. On that date, however, it entered into a series of agreements with Waterbury Companies, Inc. (hereinafter called Waterbury), which altered…