Goldstein v. California
412 U.S. 546 · Decided June 18, 1973 · 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
Goldstein v. California was decided on June 18, 1973 by a vote of 5–4. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Copyrights” in the Economic Activity area.
Read the opinion
Case details
- Citations
- 412 U.S. 546 · 93 S. Ct. 2303 · 37 L. Ed. 2d 163 · 1973 U.S. LEXIS 15
- Docket number
- 71-1192
- Decided
- June 18, 1973
- Argued
- December 13, 1972
- Court era
- Burger Court
- Decision type
- Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome for petitioner
- The petitioning party did not receive a favorable disposition
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority opinion
- Warren E. Burger
- Opinion assigned by
- Warren E. Burger
- How the case arrived
- Certiorari
- Issue (SCDB)
- Copyrights
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Legal provision
- Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 8 (patent and copyright clause)
- Type of law
- Constitution
- Decision direction (SCDB)
- Conservative what this means
How the Justices voted
| Justice | Vote | Separate writing |
|---|---|---|
| Justice William O. Douglas | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. | Dissent | |
| Justice Potter Stewart | Majority | |
| Justice Byron R. White | Majority | |
| Justice Thurgood Marshall | Dissent | Wrote an opinion |
| Chief Justice Warren E. Burger | Majority | Wrote an opinion |
| Justice Harry A. Blackmun | Dissent | |
| Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. | Majority | |
| Justice William H. Rehnquist | Majority |
Full case caption
Goldstein et al. v. California
SCDB identifiers: case 1972-145, docket 1972-145-01.
Related decisions
Other cases on “Copyrights”
- Teleprompter Corp. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
- Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken
- Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.
- Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.
- Public Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover
- Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder
Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)
- Gottschalk v. Benson
- Evco v. JonesLaw held unconstitutional
- Union Oil Co. of California v. the San Jacinto
- Executive Jet Aviation, Inc. v. City of Cleveland
- Heublein, Inc. v. South Carolina Tax Commission
- Ricci v. Chicago Mercantile Exchange
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