Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.
392 U.S. 390 · Decided June 17, 1968 · Supreme Court of the United States
Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.
At a glance
Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc. was decided on June 17, 1968 by a vote of 5–1. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Potter Stewart wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Copyrights” in the Economic Activity area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 392 U.S. 390 · 88 S. Ct. 2084 · 20 L. Ed. 2d 1176 · 1968 U.S. LEXIS 3146
- Docket number
- 618
- Decided
- June 17, 1968
- Argued
- March 13, 1968
- Court era
- Warren Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–1
- Majority opinion
- Potter Stewart
- Opinion assigned by
- Earl Warren
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Copyrights
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Legal provision
- 17 U.S.C. § 1
- Type of law
- Infrequently litigated statute
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Liberal what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice Hugo L. Black | Majority | |
| Chief Justice Earl Warren | Majority | |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice Potter Stewart | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Abe Fortas | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
Did not participate: William O. Douglas, John M. Harlan II, Thurgood Marshall.
Full case caption
Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.
SCDB identifiers: case 1967-180, docket 1967-180-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Copyrights”
- Goldstein v. California
- Teleprompter Corp. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover
- Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken
- Miller Music Corp. v. Charles N. Daniels, Inc.
- Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Loew's Inc.
Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)
- Wyandotte Transportation Co. v. United States
- United States v. Penn-Olin Chemical Co.
- Burke v. Ford
- Tcherepnin v. Knight
- Case-Swayne Co., Inc. v. Sunkist Growers, Inc.
- City of Pottsville v. United States
Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error