Kipling v. G. P. Putnam's Sons

Citations

• 120 F. 631
• 65 L.R.A. 873
• 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4512

Syllabus

<p>1. Copyright — Infringement—Right of Purchaser of Unbound Sheets to Bind and Resell.</p> <p>One who has purchased unbound copyrighted volumes from the owner of the copyright or his licensee has the right, so far as the copyright statute is concerned, to bind and resell the same.</p> <p>2. Same — Effect of Copyright of New Edition.</p> <p>The copyrighting of the volumes of a particular edition of an author’s works, which had been previously published some with and some without copyright, protects only what is original in the new edition, and does not enlarge the rights of the owner of the copyright as to any matter previously published.</p> <p>3. Same — Right of Licensee to Sell Unbound Sheets.</p> <p>There is nothing in the copyright law which prohibits a licensee of the owner of a copyright for books from selling the same in unbound sheets, nor can the rights of a purchaser of such sheets with respect to binding and reselling the same be affected by any private agreement between the licensee and owner.</p> <p>4. Trade-Mark — Use Necessary to Give Proprietary Right.</p> <p>Conceding that an author might protect his writings by a trade-mark, the mere fact that an ornamental device was stamped on a single edition of his works published in this country without any notice that it was intended as a trade-mark, and that a similar device was printed some years before on a few volumes of his works published in India, in connection with the publisher’s name, while other editions printed in this country and in England were without it, does not entitle it to protection as a trade-mark.</p> <p>5. Unfair Competition — Evidence to Establish.</p> <p>Defendants purchased copyrighted sheets of plaintiff’s works from licensed publishers, and bound them into sets,. which they sold. There was no attempt to imitate any other edition in style or -appearance, nor to deceive purchasers, the only similarity being in the use of a single device on the cover, similar to one used on another