Landmarks of Law Reporting 16 -- The battle of the Supreme Court reporters

Michael Widener

Report of the Copy-Right Case of Wheaton v. Peters: Decided in the Supreme Court of the United States: with an Appendix, Containing the Acts of Congress Relating to Copy-Right (New York, 1834).

Henry Wheaton had been unofficial reporter of U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1816-1827. Although his Reports were considered comprehensive and accurate, they were also quite expensive, being swollen with Wheaton’s lengthy annotations. When Richard Peters took the post of court reporter, he took it upon himself to condense the reports of his three predecessors and to sell these condensed volumes for a tidy sum. Wheaton promptly sued. In this landmark copyright case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for Peters and held that “no reporter has or can have any copyright” in the Court’s opinions.

Although not named, Peters is the likely publisher of this report. The dedication to Chief Justice Marshall, “due to your unequalled ability and usefulness; to the greatness of your character; the purity of your motives; and the kindness of your judicial deportment,” has the ring of a grateful litigant.

This volume is part of the Walter Pforzheimer Collection of copyright law.

MIKE WIDENER
Rare Book Librarian

“Landmarks of Law Reporting” is on display April through October 2009 in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery, Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.

Related News

The Lillian Goldman Law Library is pleased to announce the acquisition of a four-volume set of lecture notes kept by James Hammond, a Maryland student...
Rare Books Blog
FLOWERS AT LAMBACH An exhibition on view in the Lillian Goldman Law Library Rare Book Exhibition Space, Library Level 3 January 13 – May 25, 2025 Read...
Rare Books Blog
Max & Trix Max and Beatrix Farrand: Memory and Landscape at Yale An Exhibit at the Lillian Goldman Law Library, Lower Level 2 January 13 - May 25...