Keene v. Wheatley
United States Circuit Court
EQUITY. STATEMENT. This was a suit in Equity for alleged infringement of copyright in a play. The bill appears, however, to have been framed with a view, also, to meet the broader question of what constitutes literary property at common law. The ground of the contestation and the facts as disclosed by the testimony are fully stated in the opinion.
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EQUITY. STATEMENT. This was a suit in Equity for alleged infringement of copyright in a play. The bill appears, however, to have been framed with a view, also, to meet the broader question of what constitutes literary property at common law. The ground of the contestation and the facts as disclosed by the testimony are fully stated in the opinion. It is only necessary to add, preliminarily, for the more immediate understanding of the case, that the complainant’s claim of ownership in the play rested upon an agreement to purchase, for valuable consideration, from Taylor, the author, made 29th…
1Opinion of the CourtCadwalader, J.
The comedy called “Our American Cousin” is described by .the defendants, in their answer, as a “piece presenting, in suitable situations, those eccentricities usually attributed on the stage to Yankees.” It was never printed, and has never been published otherwise than through dramatic representation. It was composed in England, in 1852, by a dramatic author named Taylor, for performance in London at the Adelphi Theatre, of which Benjamin Webster was the manager. Mr. Taylor in that year sold it, or the right of performing it, to Mr. Webster. Insuperable difficulties of adaptation preventing…
2Cases cited21 opinions
- Wheaton and Donaldson v. Peters and GriggSupreme Court of the United States · 1834
- BUTLER v. Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaSupreme Court of the United States · 1851
- Pennock v. CoeSupreme Court of the United States · 1860
- Stevens v. GladdingSupreme Court of the United States · 1855
- Case of "the Philadelphia & Trenton Rail Road"Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1840
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