Bach v. Longman

John Christian Bach and Karl Friedrich Abel sued publisher James Longman for violating his copyright. The only existing copyright statute at that time was the Statute of Anne, which had been passed by Parliament in 1710; its preamble referred to "books and other writings," and it was believed not to apply to music. Lord Mansfield, the judge presiding over the case, ruled that sheet music constituted a form of writing and therefore fell under the Statute.