The U.S. Supreme Court case Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., et al., 1977 revolved around the issue of public access to tapes that were used as evidence in the Watergate scandal trial involving former President Richard Nixon. The media company, Warner Communications, sought copies of these tapes for commercial distribution and use in a documentary about Watergate. However, Nixon's lawyers argued against this on grounds of privacy and fair trial rights. The court ruled unanimously (8-0) in favor of Nixon stating that while there is a common law right to inspect and copy judicial records, it is not absolute and can be restricted at the discretion of the courts if interests such as preserving court functions or protecting private parties are involved. Therefore, they concluded that neither First Amendment nor common law granted an absolute right to access all government information.

In the dissenting opinion for Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., Justice Brennan disagreed with the majority's decision to deny public access to tapes used as evidence in a criminal trial involving former President Richard Nixon. He argued that there was a strong presumption of public access to judicial records and proceedings under common law, which could only be overcome by an overriding interest based on findings that closure is essential to preserve higher values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. In this case, he did not believe such an overriding interest existed. Furthermore, he contended that denying access would undermine the basic principle of transparency in government and judiciary actions. The denial also contradicted historical practices where courts have released exhibits after trials concluded unless they were ordered sealed or destroyed due to their obscene or dangerous nature - conditions these tapes did not meet.