James Stevens, Plaintiff in Error v. Royal Gladding and Isaac T. Proud

Stevens managed the case for himself, and it would be difficult to conjecture the reason for suing out a writ of error, if it were not for the following assignment of error which was attached to the record: This was a qui tam action at law, in debt, for the forfeitures and penalties incurred by the defendants for the violation of a copyright granted to the plaintiff in error, on the 23d day of April, 1831, under an act of Congress entitled 'An act to amend the several acts respecting copyrights, approved 3d February, 1831.' The plaintiff's title to this copyright is set forth in the declaration herein. The principal questions in this case are: Was the verdict and judgment correct? Was the sale of the engraved plates the sale of a copyright? Did such sale authorize the defendants, or any other person, to print and sell this literary production, still subsisting under a copyright in this complainant?