Baker v. Selden
| Baker v. Selden | |
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| Argued December 2–3, 1879 Decided January 19, 1880 |
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| Full case name | Baker v. Selden |
| Citations | 101 U.S. 99 (more) |
| Prior history | Appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. |
| Subsequent history | Reversed and remanded. |
| Holding | |
| Exclusive rights to the "useful art" described in a book are only available by patent. The description itself is protectable by copyright. | |
| Court membership | |
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| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Bradley, joined by unanimous |
Baker v. Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879), was a leading Supreme Court of the United States copyright case cited to explain the idea-expression dichotomy. The court held that a book did not give an author the right to exclude others from practicing what was described in the book, only right to exclude reproduction of the material in the book. Exclusive rights to an "useful art" described in a book was only available by patent.
In 1859, Charles Selden obtained copyright in a book he wrote called Selden's Condensed Ledger, or Book-keeping Simplified. In it the book described an improved system of book-keeping. The books contained about twenty pages of primarily book-keeping forms and only about 650 words. In addition, the books contained examples and an introduction. In the following years Selden made several other books, improving on the initial system. In total, Selden wrote six books, though, evidence suggests that they were really six editions of the same book.
Selden, however, was unsuccessful in selling his books. He originally believed he could sell his system to several counties and the United States Department of the Treasury. Those sales never happened. Selden was forced to assign his interest—an interest that apparently was returned to his wife after his death in 1871.
In 1867, W.C.M. Baker produced a book describing a very similar system. Unlike Selden, Baker was more successful at selling his book–selling it to some 40 counties within five years.
Selden's widow, Elizabeth Selden, hired an attorney, Samuel S. Fisher, a former Commissioner of Patents. In 1872, Fisher filed suit against Baker for copyright infringement.
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