In the 1915 case of Interstate Amusement Company v. Albert, the U.S Supreme Court dealt with a dispute over copyright infringement. The plaintiff, Interstate Amusement Company, alleged that Albert had infringed on their copyrighted play "The Chorus Lady" by performing an unauthorized version called "At Gay Coney Island". The lower court ruled in favor of the defendant due to lack of substantial similarity between the two plays and dismissed the complaint. However, upon appeal to the Supreme Court, it was found that there were indeed significant similarities between both works which could not be coincidental or accidental but rather indicative of copying. Therefore, this constituted as copyright infringement under existing laws at that time. As such, they reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

In the dissenting opinion for Interstate Amusement Company v. Albert, the justice argued that a state's power to regulate businesses should not infringe on an individual's right to contract freely. The justice disagreed with the majority view that Louisiana’s law requiring film distributors to provide films equally among all theaters was constitutional under its police powers. He contended that this regulation interfered with private contractual rights and economic liberty without serving any legitimate public interest or purpose related directly to health, safety, morals or welfare of society - which are traditionally recognized areas where states can exercise their police powers. Therefore, he believed it violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause by depriving individuals of property (i.e., their contractual rights) without due process of law.