In the case of American Publishing Company v. Fisher in 1896, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on a matter concerning copyright law. The plaintiff, American Publishing Company, had purchased exclusive rights to publish and sell a book written by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) titled "Life on the Mississippi." However, they discovered that defendant Benjamin W. Fisher was selling an unauthorized version of this work under another title and sued him for infringement of their copyright. The lower court found in favor of Fisher due to technicalities regarding registration requirements under existing copyright laws at that time. The Supreme Court reversed this decision upon appeal from the publishing company stating that although there were minor errors made during registration process such as incorrect date being listed on some copies or failure to deliver two deposit copies within stipulated timeframe; these did not invalidate their claim over exclusive rights granted by author himself through contract agreement signed between them before publication commenced thus making any unauthorized reproduction illegal regardless if it's sold under different name or not thereby upholding sanctity and purpose behind Copyright Act which is protection against piracy while encouraging creativity among authors.

In the dissenting opinion for American Publishing Company v. Fisher, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with principles of federalism and states' rights. He contended that under the Constitution, each state has a right to regulate its own internal affairs without interference from Congress or other states unless it violates national law or infringes upon interstate commerce. In this case, he believed that Connecticut had not overstepped its bounds by imposing taxes on out-of-state corporations doing business within its borders because such taxation did not interfere with interstate commerce but rather regulated local activities related to it. Therefore, he disagreed with the majority's ruling which struck down Connecticut’s tax as unconstitutional due to violation of Commerce Clause in U.S constitution.