The U.S. Supreme Court case Bobbs-Merrill Company v. Straus et al., 1907, centered around the issue of copyright law and its application to resale of copyrighted works. The plaintiff, Bobbs-Merrill Company, had inserted a notice in their book that any retail sale at a price under $1 without their consent would constitute an infringement on their exclusive right to distribute copies of the work. The defendants, R.H Macy & Co., sold the books for less than this amount without obtaining permission from Bobbs-Merrill Company and were sued as a result. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled against Bobbs-Merrill Company stating that once they sold a copy of their book to someone else (in this case Macy's), they lost control over what could be done with it afterwards including reselling it at any price point - establishing what is known today as "the first-sale doctrine". This landmark ruling clarified that copyright owners do not have rights over individual copies after initial sale.

The dissenting opinion in the Bobbs-Merrill Company v. Straus et al. case argued that the copyright owner should have control over all sales of their copyrighted work, including resale by purchasers. The justice disagreed with the majority's interpretation of copyright law and its application to this case, arguing that it undermined authors' rights and failed to adequately protect their interests. They contended that a ruling in favor of Macy & Company would effectively allow anyone who bought a copy of a book to then reproduce or sell it without any regard for the author's rights or wishes, which they believed was not what Congress intended when drafting copyright legislation.