AustLit

Chambers, Charles Froman and Stephano Gatti filed a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court in 1911 against Richard Ferris, who they claimed had breached their ownership of the play by copyrighting an adaptation (by George E. McFarlane). That play was subsequently produced in America under the same name, The Fatal Card. The Supreme Court found in favour of Chambers, Froman and Gatti in early 1912, ruling :

The complainants were the owners of the original play and exclusively entitled to produce it. Their common-law right with respect to its representation in this country had not been lost. This being so, the play of the plaintiff in error, which was substantially identical with that of the complainants, was simply a piratical composition. It was not the purpose or effect of the copyright law to render secure the fruits of piracy, and the plaintiff in error is not entitled to the protection of the statute. In other words the claim of Federal right upon which he relies is without merit. (ctd. Find Law: http://laws.findlaw.com/us/223/424)