Sidis v. F-R Publishing Corp.

William James Sidis (plaintiff), a former child prodigy who lectured to mathematics professors at age eleven and graduated Harvard at sixteen (both heavily covered by the press), later deliberately sought obscurity, living alone and working as a common clerk; a 1937 New Yorker article by F-R Publishing (defendant) profiled him as part of a 'Where Are They Now?' series, describing his desire for obscurity, his dress, speech, living situation, and occupation in a non-derogatory, if somewhat mocking, tone describing him as having 'child-like charm.' Sidis sued for invasion of privacy, civil rights infringement, and libel; the trial court dismissed the privacy and civil rights claims, and Sidis appealed.