In this case the court ruled that, “No reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court has, nor can he have, any copyright in the written opinions delivered by the court; and the judges of the court cannot confer on any reporter any such right.” The court also held that, Congress, by the act of 1790, instead of sanctioning an existing perpetual right in an author in his works, created the right secured for a limited time by the provisions of that law.”

View "Wheaton v. Peters" on the Justia U.S. Supreme Court Center