There have been many intellectual property acts throughout our nation's history. These acts have been about everything from patents to copyrights. The result is that their findings have changed the way intellectual property is managed. For example, the law states that if you own copyright you have the right to do several things with your work. These rights include the publication, distribution, and adaptation. Another law stated that, once the copyright time expires, your work would enter public domain. As with many works of expression, there have been a myriad of copyright cases that have changed intellectual property in drastic and subtle ways. The first United States Supreme Court ruling on copyright was in 1834 and it involved the case of Wheaton v. Peters. This case found that common law copyright law does not exist and that the author has to go through the formal channels necessary to secure a copyright. These are just a few of the many cases that have occurred.