Backus v. Gould, 48 U.S. (7 How.) 798 (1849), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held the Copyright Act of 1831 requires courts to award damages from copyright infringement based on the number of copies found in the accused's possession, not the number of infringing copies that they ever printed.^[1] At the time, at least in the case of books, a "copy" was defined as a complete reprinting or transcription of the work.^[2]

Backus v. Gould
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided March 18, 1849
Full case name	Backus v. Gould
Citations	48 U.S. 798 (more) 7 How. 798; 12 L. Ed. 919
Holding
The Copyright Act of 1831 requires courts to award damages from copyright infringement based on the number of copies found in the accused's possession, not the number of infringing copies that they ever printed.
Court membership
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney Associate Justices John McLean · James M. Wayne John Catron · John McKinley Peter V. Daniel · Samuel Nelson Levi Woodbury · Robert C. Grier
Case opinion
Majority	McLean