Martin v. Little, Brown, and Co.

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Martin v. Little, Brown, and Co.
Court Superior Court of Pennsylvania
Citation 304 Pa. Super. 424
450 A.2d 984 (1981)
Date decided 1981

Facts

The plaintiff was a law school student who noticed that a paperback publication had plagiarized from the defendant’s book. He wrote to the defendant, offering to send him the highlighted plagiarized material, which the defendant used to file a copyright infringement against the publishing company.


Procedural History

The trial court held that a contract had not been made and there could be no recovery.


Issues

Whether the plaintiff is entitled to recover restitution under an implied contract.


Holding/Decision

Judgment affirmed.


Rules

A promise to pay for services can only be implied when they are rendered in such circumstances as authorized the party performing to entertain a reasonable expectation of their payment by the party benefited.

When the circumstances evidence that one’s work effort has been voluntarily given to another, an intention to pay therefore cannot be inferred.