''Mifflin v. R. H. White Company'', 190 U.S. 260 (1903), was a
United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the authorized appearance of a work in a magazine without a copyright notice specifically dedicated to that work transfers that work into the
public domain.
[.] Its opinion was also applied to the next case, ''
Mifflin v. Dutton
''Mifflin v. Dutton'', 190 U.S. 265 (1903), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the authorized appearance of a work in a magazine without a copyright notice specifically dedicated to that work transfers that work ...
''.
[.]
Background
The case concerned ''The Professor at the Breakfast-Table'' by
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...
, published serially in ''
Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' in 1859 without the appropriate copyright notice.
The works were later published in a single volume by
Houghton Mifflin Co. with payment to Holmes but the
R. H. White store also published the same volume claiming it was in the public domain.
''
Holmes v. Hurst
''Holmes v. Hurst'', 174 U.S. 82 (1899), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that when someone begins printing a serial book in a magazine, he or she may file for copyright of the entire book even if the book does not exist as a comp ...
'' was an earlier Supreme Court case dealing with similar circumstances for Holmes's earlier work, ''
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table
''The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table'' (1858) is a collection of essays written by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. The essays were originally published in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1857 and 1858 before being collected in book form. The author had wri ...
''.
References
External links
*
1903 in United States case law
United States copyright case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Fuller Court
The Atlantic (magazine)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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