Baker v. Selden
United States Supreme Court
101 U.S. 99, 25 L. Ed. 841 (1879)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Charles Selden (plaintiff) obtained a copyright for his book Selden’s Condensed Ledger, or Book-keeping Simplified. The book described Selden’s system of bookkeeping and contained illustrated examples of the system. The examples consisted of forms with ruled lines and headings that illustrated the system described in the book. W. Baker (defendant) created blank account forms that mirrored Selden’s bookkeeping system. Selden’s widow sued Baker for copyright infringement in federal district court. In defense, Baker argued that Selden’s account book and the arrangement of ruled lines and columns on blank pages were not eligible for copyright protection. The district court ruled for Selden, and the circuit court affirmed. Baker appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Bradley, J.)
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