Washingtonian Publishing Co. v. Pearson

Washingtonian Publishing Co. v. Pearson, 306 U.S. 30 (1939), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held the Copyright Act of 1909's deposit requirement did not require immediate deposit, or deposit before infringement occurs, in order to bring a suit for infringement.^[1]

Full case nameWashingtonian Publishing Company v. Pearson

Citations306 U.S. 30 (more)

59 S. Ct. 397; 83 L. Ed. 470

Quick facts Argued December 6, 1938 Decided January 30, 1939, Full case name ...

Washingtonian Publishing Co. v. Pearson
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 6, 1938 Decided January 30, 1939
Full case name	Washingtonian Publishing Company v. Pearson
Citations	306 U.S. 30 (more) 59 S. Ct. 397; 83 L. Ed. 470
Holding
The Copyright Act of 1909's deposit requirement did not require immediate deposit, or deposit before infringement occurs, in order to bring a suit for infringement.
Court membership
Chief Justice Charles E. Hughes Associate Justices James C. McReynolds · Louis Brandeis Pierce Butler · Harlan F. Stone Owen Roberts · Hugo Black Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter

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In 2018, the Supreme Court will hear Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, which will answer the similar issue of "whether a copyright owner may commence an infringement suit after delivering the proper deposit, application, and fee to the Copyright Office, but before the Register of Copyrights has acted on the application for registration."^[2]