Henry Billings Brown

“ Not only this, but as the penalty is imposed upon any person who engraves, copies, prints, publishes, or sells a copy, not only the publisher, but the printer and bookseller might be liable for every copy traced to his possession. Indeed, the defendant might be made liable for every copy traced to his possession, even though he destroyed the whole edition for the purpose of relieving himself from the penalty. ”

“ While the forfeiture is not limited as to the number of the copies, it is limited to such as are found in, and not simply traced to, the possession of the defendant. Congress may have been perfectly willing to impose a forfeiture of $1 for every such copy, and have been reluctant to impose it upon the thousands of such copies that may have previously been put in circulation. ”

“ The idea suggested by the learned judge who delivered the opinion of the court, that as it would be difficult to prove the exact amount of damages suffered by reason of the unlawful representation, the statute provided a minimum sum, leaving it open for a larger recovery upon proof of greater damages, has no application to the section under consideration, where the plaintiff can recover no greater nor less damages than the penalty provided by the section. ”