Sidwell Co., Inc. v. Real Estate Data, Inc.
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
1987 WL 7831 (1987)
- Written by Eric Miller, JD
Facts
Sidwell Company, Inc. (plaintiff) produced and distributed maps for real estate and tax purposes. In 1957 and 1959, Sidwell entered contracts with Cook County, Illinois, to make maps for the county. The sample maps provided by Sidwell contained a copyright notice that identified Sidwell as the copyright holder. The contracts were silent on the issue of copyright ownership, though Sidwell claimed that there was an oral agreement under which Sidwell would retain the copyright. Later, a company called Real Estate Data, Inc. (REDI) (defendant) sold copies of the maps. Sidwell brought a copyright-infringement action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The court held that Cook County, as the commissioning party, held the copyright. Sidwell appealed. The United States Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case back to the district court, citing a need for additional findings of fact.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McGard, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 807,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
