The "governor and council" shut down Publick Occurrences four days after its first and only issue because, according to the order, the newspaper was printed without permission and featured "doubtful and questionable information." The connection here was most likely to a rumor concerning the king of France, who, the monarch, believed, had been poisoned. Publick Occurrences Lawsuit. In 1704, in order to resolve a legal dispute with Edward Lewis over rights to print laws in Massachusetts, Jonathan Dickinson, the publisher of Publick Occurrences, filed a lawsuit against Lewis for $10,000. When Dickinson died in 1712, his son John took over management of the newspaper. In 1720, following several more lawsuits with other publishers over rights to print laws in Massachusetts, John Dickinson sold his interest in the paper to Henry Woodward, who already owned the Boston News-Letter and the New England Courant. As part of the deal, Dickinson received $15,000. In 1731, Woodward sued Jonathan's son John Dickinson over unpaid bills from publishing laws. The case was still pending in 1750. In conclusion, due to copyright issues, only one issue of Publick Occurrences is known to exist. This issue was printed in 1690 and it features news about King William's War.