PRIMARY SOURCES

ON COPYRIGHT

(1450-1900)

Letter from Peters to Donaldson, Philadelphia (1828)

Source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Cadwalader Collection, Judge John Cadwalader Series, Manx Nr 1454: Richard Peters Jr. to Robert Donaldson, Sept. 26, 1828.

Citation:
Letter from Peters to Donaldson, Philadelphia (1828), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org

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Record-ID: us_1828b

Permanent link: https://copyrighthistory.org/cam/tools/request/showRecord.php?id=record_us_1828b

Full title:
Letter from Richard Peters Jr. to Robert Donaldson, Sept. 26, 1828

Full title original language:
N/A

Abstract:
A letter from Richard Peters, the reporter of the Supreme Court, to Robert Donaldson, the publisher of the former reporter Henry Wheaton. In the letter Peters responds to Donaldson's complaint on the publication of his Condensed Reports, including reports of Supreme Court decisions complied by previous reporters. The response consists of a copy of Peters's reply to a similar complaint by another former reporter, Judge William Cranch. Peters explains that he intends to copy just the facts and the decisions of the court, denies that this constitutes copyright infringement and invites others to test this in court.

Commentary: No commentaries for this record.

Bibliography:
  • McGill, Meredith L. 'The Matter of the Text: Commerce, Print Culture, and the Authority of the State in American Copyright Law.' 9 American Literary History 1 (1997).

  • ____. ''A Curious Chapter in the History of Judicature': Wheaton v. Peters and the Rest of the Story (of Copyright in the New Republic).' 42 Hous. L. Rev. 325 (2005).

  • Joyce, Craig. 'The Story of Wheaton v. Peters, in Intellectual Property Stories.' In Jane C. Ginsburg and Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss eds. New York: Foundation Press, 2006.

  • Abrams, Howard B. 'The Historic Foundation of American Copyright Law: Exploding the Myth of Common Law Copyright.' 29 Wayne L. Rev. 1119 (1983).


Related documents in this database:
1828: Letter from Donaldson to Peters
1828: Letter from Donaldson to Wheaton
1834: Wheaton v. Peters
1834: Wheaton v. Peters Independent Report
1834: Letters from Sumner to Story

Author: Richard Peters Jr.

Publisher: N/A

Year: 1828

Location: Philadelphia

Language: English

Source: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Cadwalader Collection, Judge John Cadwalader Series, Manx Nr 1454: Richard Peters Jr. to Robert Donaldson, Sept. 26, 1828.

Persons referred to:
Cranch, William
Donaldson, Robert
Peters, Richard, Jr.
Wheaton, Henry

Places referred to:
New York
Philadelphia
Washington

Cases referred to:
N/A

Institutions referred to:
U.S. Supreme Court

Legislation:
U.S. Copyright Act 1802 (Amendment of 1790 Act), 2 Stat. 171 (1802)

Keywords:
authors' remuneration
authorship, legal concept of
compilation
law books
property theory
utility

Responsible editor: Oren Bracha


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