Baker v. Selden (101 U.S. 99)
is one of the earliest and most important of all copyright infringement cases. It is heavily cited in
explaining the idea-expression divide, a concept that outlines the underlying
concepts of copyright laws. It explains that U.S. copyright laws are set into
place to protect the expression of an idea rather than the idea itself. The
case, which took place in 1879, concluded that the exclusive rights to what is
known as “useful art” which may be written in a book are only
protected under U.S. intellectual property law through a patent. The
description itself contained in the book would be protected under copyright.

Background

A man by the name of Charles Selden obtained a
copyright for a book he wrote which was intended to portray an improved system
of bookkeeping entitled Bookkeeping Simplified. The book, although containing
only 650 words, contained mostly bookkeeping forms. There were also several
examples outlined in addition to an introduction.

Selden
created several additional books, which were arguably just new revisions to the
same original book. Selden was unsuccessful in selling his books, even after
attempting to sell them to several counties, as well as the United States
Department of Treasury. Before Selden’s death, he assigned his interest, which
was returned to his wife.

W.C.M Baker produced a book in 1867 which
described a very similar system to Selden’s system of bookkeeping. Baker was
able to sell the book to 40 counties in under five years. It was not long
before Selden’s widow, Elizabeth, discovered Baker’s success with Selden’s
similar bookkeeping techniques. She hired an attorney and took legal action
against Baker in 1872 and sued him for copyright infringement.

The Trial and Appeal

The court decided that Baker’s books contained
information and material which was too similar not to be liable for copyright
infringement. As a result, the court ordered a permanent injunction which
prevented Baker from further publication or sale of his book. Baker and his
legal team immediately filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United
States, which claimed that Selden’s work is not valid copyright subject matter.

The appeal process closely
examined the difference between patent law and copyright law. It
was found by the Court that the idea contained within a book is not enforced
through copyright law, but rather through patent law. Only the description or
expression of an idea is protected by a copyright. Justice Joseph P. Bradley
wrote of the case, “The copyright of a book on bookkeeping cannot secure
the exclusive right to make, sell, and use account books prepared upon the plan
set forth in such a book.” Baker v. Selden has been written into the U.S.
Code §102(b) of the Copyright Act.

Irving
Berlin v. E.C. Publications, Inc. (329 F. 2d 541), which took place in 1964,
was one of the many copyright infringement cases which helped shaped
copyright law and parody copyright guidelines. The court case involved Irving
Berlin’s song entitled “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody”, in which Mad
Magazine, a popular parody magazine, parodied the song and entitled it
“Louella Schwartz Describes Her Malady”. E.C. Publications, Inc., Mad
Magazine’s parent company, was named the defendant in the case.

Mad Magazine, known for its humorous depictions of
pop culture, published a volume called The Worst from Mad No. 4. In it, Mad Magazine had a
feature called “Sing Along with Mad” in which they parodied songs and
printed replacement lyrics to artists’ songs. During the trial, Judge Irving
Kaufman famously stated that, “We doubt that even so eminent a composer as
plaintiff Irving Berlin should be permitted to claim a property interest in
iambic pentameter.” The judge was referring to meters used to establish
the rhythm in which words are arranged on each line of poetry.

The court ruled that the parody song of Irving Berlin’s
work featured in Mad Magazine did not violate parody copyright laws. All other
songs except for two were ruled out at the conclusion of the case. It was found
that two of Mad Magazine’s parodies were too similar to the original songs,
which used the same verbal hooks as the original. Berlin and other music
publishers involved in the case appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, though
they refused to withdraw the victory Mad Magazine had in court.

Of all copyright infringement cases, this one is important to
parody copyright law because it paved the way for parodists to use similar
meter structure of popular songs, a right that is still stands today.