The U.S. Supreme Court case Mifflin v. R.H. White Company in 1902 revolved around a copyright dispute between the two parties involved. The plaintiff, Houghton & Mifflin Co., held the copyrights to several books which they alleged were infringed upon by R.H. White Company through their sale of certain photographs that depicted scenes from these copyrighted works without permission or license from the plaintiff company. The court had to determine whether such use of images constituted an infringement on literary copyright protections under existing law at that time, and if so, what remedies should be provided for such violations. In its decision, the court ruled in favor of Houghton & Mifflin Co., stating that unauthorized reproduction and distribution of pictures depicting scenes from copyrighted literature indeed violated copyright laws as it essentially amounted to creating derivative works without consent from original rights holders.

In the dissenting opinion for Mifflin v. R.H. White Company, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a Massachusetts law prohibiting certain types of advertising infringed upon freedom of speech and press rights protected by the First Amendment. The dissent contended that while states have broad powers to regulate business practices within their borders, this power should not extend to suppressing truthful information about lawful goods or services offered for sale. They believed that such restrictions were an unwarranted interference with commerce and free expression, arguing further that if left unchecked, they could lead to more extensive censorship efforts in other areas of commercial activity.