The court stated the issue as: Does the sole right to vend (named in 4952) secure to the owner of the copyright the right, after a sale of the book to a purchaser, to restrict future sales of the book at retail, to the right to sell it at a certain price per copy, because of a notice in the book that a sale at a different price will be treated as an infringement, which notice has been brought home to one undertaking to sell for less than the named sum?The case centered on the publisher setting additional terms not specifically stated in the statute and claiming that the work was licensed and not sold.

The Court's ruling established what came to be known as the "first-sale doctrine", which was later codified as § 109(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976.

Bobbs-Merrill Company sold a copyrighted novel, The Castaway by Hallie Erminie Rives, with the notice, "The price of this book at retail is $1 net.

The court held first that the copyright statutes protect an owner's right to "multiply and sell" the work on their own terms.

The court did not hold that a contract or license imposed on the first sale could not create an obligation.