View source for Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus

{{Use American English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox SCOTUS case
  |Litigants=Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus
  |ArgueDateA=March 12
  |ArgueDateB=13
  |ArgueYear=1908
  |DecideDate=June 1
  |DecideYear=1908
  |FullName=Bobbs-Merrill Company v. Straus, et al. doing business as R.H. Macy & Company
  |USVol=210
  |USPage=339
  |ParallelCitations=28 S. Ct. 722; 52 [[L. Ed.]] 1086; 1908 [[U.S. LEXIS]] 1513; 6 Ohio L. Rep. 323
  |Prior=Judgment for defendants, 139 [[Federal Reporter|F.]] 155 ([[S.D.N.Y.]] 1905); affirmed, 147 F. 15 ([[2nd Cir.]] 1906)
  |Subsequent=None
  |Holding=Copyright holders did not have the [[statutory right]] to control the price of subsequent resales of lawfully purchased copies of their work. Second Circuit affirmed.
  |Majority=Day
  |JoinMajority=''unanimous''
  |LawsApplied=U.S. Rev. Stat. §§ 4952, 4965, 4970 (Copyright Act of 1897)
}}

'''''Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus''''', 210 U.S. 339 (1908), was a [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] decision concerning the scope of rights accorded owners of a [[copyright]] versus owners of a particular copy of a copyrighted work.  This was a [[case of first impression]] concerning whether the [[copyright law]]s permit an owner to control a purchaser's subsequent sale of a copyrighted work.  The court stated the issue as:
<blockquote>Does the sole right to vend (named in 4952) secure to the owner of the copyright the right, after a sale of the book to a purchaser, to restrict future sales of the book at retail, to the right to sell it at a certain price per copy, because of a notice in the book that a sale at a different price will be treated as an infringement, which notice has been brought home to one undertaking to sell for less than the named sum?</blockquote>

The case centered on the publisher setting additional terms not specifically stated in the statute and claiming that the work was licensed and not sold.  The Court's ruling established what came to be known as the "[[first-sale doctrine]]", which was later codified as § 109(a) of the [[Copyright Act of 1976]].

==Facts==
[[Bobbs-Merrill Company]] sold a copyrighted novel, ''The Castaway'' by [[Hallie Erminie Rives]], with  the notice, "The price of this book at retail is $1 net. No dealer is licensed to sell it at a lower price, and a sale at a lower price will be treated as an infringement of the copyright" printed immediately below the copyright notice. The defendants, [[Isidor Straus|Isidor]] and [[Nathan Straus]] representing [[Macy's|R.H. Macy & Co.]], purchased large lots of books at wholesale and sold copies of the book at retail at the price of 89 cents a copy.

==Holding==
The court held first that the copyright statutes protect an owner's right to "multiply and sell" the work on their own terms.  The [[statutory right]] to sell, however, did not also create a right to limit resale.

The court did not hold that a [[contract]] or [[license]] imposed on the first sale could not create an obligation.  In this case, there was no contract between the owner and the original purchaser, and there was not [[privity of contract]] between the owner and any third party.

==See also==
*''[[Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. Lanza Research Intl]]'', {{Ussc|523|135|1998}}
*''[[Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell]]'', a similar ruling regarding [[patents]]
* [[List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 210]]

==External links==
*{{wikisource-inline|Bobbs-Merrill Company v. Straus}}
* {{caselaw source
 | case = ''Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus'', {{ussc|210|339|1908|el=no}}
 | courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/96872/bobbs-merrill-co-v-straus/
 | findlaw = https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/210/339.html
 | googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2444759653364042939
 | justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/210/339/case.html
 | loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep210/usrep210339/usrep210339.pdf
 }}

{{USArticleI}}
{{USCopyrightActs}}

[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases]]
[[Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court]]
[[Category:United States copyright case law]]
[[Category:1908 in United States case law]]
[[Category:June 1908 in the United States]]