Taylor v. Scott, Foresman & Co.

Appellee, the author of “A Brief History of the American People,” sometimes known as the “Model History,” designed for use in schools, and who was the owner of the copyright thereon, in January, 1879, entered into the following contract with George Sherwood & Company, viz.:

“We hereby agree in consideration of the exclusive right to publish and sell a certain work entitled, ‘A Brief History of the American People,’ by Edward Taylor, to pay to'the said Edward Taylor or his assigns the sum of four cents (4 cents) on each, and every copy sold by ns.

“It being provided, however, that no copyright…