Royalties

In 1928, the Court went so far as to hold that a state could not tax as income royalties for the use of a patent issued by the United States.1 This proposition was soon overruled in Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal,2 where a privilege tax based on gross income and applicable to royalties from copyrights was upheld. Likewise a state may lay a franchise tax on corporations, measured by the net income from all sources and applicable to income from copyright royalties.3

Royalties and the U.S. Constitution

Resources

See Also

References

This text about Royalties is based on “The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation”, published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

Notes

[Footnote 1] Long v. Rockwood, 277 U.S. 142 (1928).

[Footnote 2] 286 U.S. 123 (1932).

[Footnote 3] Educational Films Corp. v. Ward, 282 U.S. 379 (1931).