 The case involved whether Wilcox , Barrow , and Nutt had violated Gyles ' publishing rights as defined under the Statute of Anne , particularly the section stating that an author , or purchaser of an author 's copyrights as Gyles was , " shall have the sole Liberty of Printing and Reprinting such Book and Books for the Term of four @-@ teen years . " Philip Yorke , 1st Earl of Hardwicke presided over and decided the case . 
