Quote#Books & Reading
The invention of an author is a species of property unknown to the…
Quote byJoseph Yates · 1722–1770
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Dissenting in Millar v Taylor (1769), 4 Burr. Part IV., 2387..
English (original)
The invention of an author is a species of property unknown to the common law of England. Its usages are immemorial; and the views of it tend to the benefit and advantage of the public with respect to the necessaries of life, and not to the improvement and graces of mind.
— Joseph Yates
More from Joseph Yates
The Courts can take no notice of anything but what comes judicially before them.
It is proper to inquire into the practice and precedents; and to see whether they have been uniform and concomitant.
The Court must have ministers : the attornies are its ministers.
Old rights must remain: it would be very unreasonable if it should be otherwise.
The sheriffs of London have been immemorially the sheriff of Middlesex.
If the custom be general, it is the law of the realm: if local only, it is lex loci, the law of the place. Now, all laws are general, as far as the law extends; and all customs of England are of course, immemorial.1 No usage, therefore, …