Martin v. Little, Brown & Co.

James Martin (plaintiff) wrote to publisher Little, Brown & Co. (Little) (defendant) to alert it, unprompted and without asking for payment, that a passage in one of Little's books had been plagiarized by another author, identifying both the book and the copied passages. Little used the tip to sue the plagiarist for copyright infringement. Only after learning of that suit did Martin demand compensation for his information, and when Little refused, Martin sued. The trial court dismissed his suit, and Martin appealed.