Thornton v. Schreiber

Citations

• 124 U.S. 612
• 8 S. Ct. 618
• 31 L. Ed. 577
• 1888 U.S. LEXIS 1899

Syllabus

<p>An employé of a business house, who, having a principal place in the establishment, is entrusted by his employers under their direction and on their behalf with the custody and possession, but in a building occupied by them and subject to their control, of printed copies of a copyrighted photograph, printed in violation of the provisions of Rev. Stat. § 4965, has not such possession of them as will entitle the proprietor of the copyright to proceed against him for a forfeiture of one dollar for every sheet under that section.</p> <p>The words “ found in his possession” in § 4905 of tiie Revised Statutes do not relate to the finding of the jury that the articles in question were in' the defendant’s possession, but require that there should be a time before tiie cause of action accrues, at which they are found in his possession.</p> <p>Whether the provision in Rev. Stat. § 4965 that one-half of the profit shall go “ to the proprietor, and the other half to the use of the United States ” does not relate solely to the “ case of a painting, statue, or statuary,” qucare.</p>