Commercial and Corporate Law Report: Copyright and Contract Law

This report examines the concept of breach of contract within the context of commercial law, using the landmark case of Folsom v. Marsh (1841) as a focal point. The report details the facts of the case, the arguments presented, and the court's decision, which established principles related to fair use i...Read More

Running head: COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATION LAW
COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATION LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
A breach in a contract is considered to be a legal ground for an action or a civil wrong on
an agreement that is binding and which has not been honored by any of the parties who were
subjected to contractual agreement and such non-performance or interference with some other
party’s performance and therefore such is considered to be a breach. If a party fails to perform
and fulfill the conditions that have been revealed in the contract then such would be considered
to be breach.
This paper discusses the breach of contract with the help of a landmark case Folsom v.
Marsh, 9. F.Cas. 342 (C.C.D. Mass. 1841). In addition to such it would discuss the facts,
arguments and discuss the brief legal terminology as per the provisions in the Bahrain
commercial law. Furthermore, it would discuss briefly about the commercial law in accordance
with the international law regarding the violation of copyright. In conclusion, it would
summarize the points that have been discussed in the paper.
Discussion
The case Folsom v. Marsh, 9. F.Cas. 342 (C.C.D. Mass. 1841) is considered to be a
copyright case of the nineteenth century in the United States and has been popularly known as
the first case relating to fair use in the US. There was an opinion that had been inscribed by the
Judge Joseph Story who had established four different factors which are prevailing to this day
and such had been incorporated in the Copyright Act of 1976 under 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
The plaintiff in this particular case was considered to own copyrights in President
Washington’s personal and along with such the official papers which had been edited by him for
The Writings of George Washington. Such had been published with a twelve-volume work,

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which was inclusive of the papers of President Washington along with the plaintiff’s publisher
Folsom, Thurston and Wells. The respondent on the other hand had copied certain pages of the
paper in the two-volume work for his work, which was an autobiography, printed by the
respondent Marsh, Lyon and Capen. The petitioners or the complainants had alleged that such
was considered to be an infringement of their copyrights. The issue was whether the word for
word use relating to the secure letters instituted as an act of piracy under that of the 1841
copyright law. It had been argued by the defendant that such constituted as fair use and not an
infringement to the copyright violation but it was held by the court that the respondent’s usage
relating to the letters of the plaintiff was not that of fair use and along with such the court had
recognized the principles relating to such which became the modern foundation or groundwork
for the doctrine of fair use. In order to understand the doctrine of fair use the nature of the objects
relating to the selections need to be made and the quantity along with the value of the materials
need to be used relating to the degree in which such would predispose the sale or in turn reduce
the profits or it would surpass the objects of the original work.
Thus, from the above analysis it can be stated that in order to use someone else’s work
the recognition should be given. An individual cannot use another person’s work and benefit
from that by stating that such was taken due to the doctrine of fair use. There had been a
violation of copyright and thus, such constituted a breach of the contract. The intellectual
property rights are considered to be protected through a set of intersecting multilateral as well as
bilateral agreements, which would result in the harmonization of the national laws. Bahrain is
considered to be a member of the Berne Convention and along with such the WIPO Copyright
Treaty (Abbott, Cottier, & Gurry, 2019). The copyright Law in Bahrain extend to an author for
their protection for a period of life plus seventy years instead of the fifty years’ time period and it

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also adds or incorporates specific provisions which are in relation to the several customs along
with certain preliminary procedures. If there has been any breach or infringement then there
would be civil as well as criminal sanctions in order to prevent the infringement, which includes
proving of infringement and seizing of the products that led to infringement. As per the
provisions, section XIII of the Law No. 22 of 2006 on the Protection of Copyright and
Neighbouring Rights.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be understood that the infringement in
copyright is considered to be a punishable offence as the original work of an author is considered
to be protected for a specific duration and thus, such cannot be used as someone else’s work in
order to gain profit. Hence, to conclude, if there has been an infringement or breach of copyright
then such would be a punishable offence.

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References
Abbott, F. M., Cottier, T., & Gurry, F. (2019). International intellectual property in an
integrated world economy. Aspen Publishers.
Copyright Act of 1976.
Folsom v. Marsh, 9. F.Cas. 342 (C.C.D. Mass. 1841).
Law No. 22 of 2006 on the Protection of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights.