Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Copyright Challenge Case

Abstract:     
On February 19, 2002, the United States Supreme Court (www.supremecourtus.gov) gave an unexpected Valentine’s surprise to the copyright and publishing communities by agreeing to hear a challenge to the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). The Act (available online at thomas.loc.gov) extended the terms of existing copyrights by 20 years and added the same 20 year extension to the term of all future copyrights. As a result of the Act, copyrighted material will not go into the public domain for at least 70 years and often well over 100 years.

The outcome of this case is likely to have a significant impact on access to and control of content on the Internet. There are many advocates both for and against the CTEA, with availability being the central focus of concern. However, there is greater reason to be concerned about the loss of pieces of our cultural history. Thousands of out-of-print books, journals, musical compositions, scripts and other “useful Arts” from the 1920's and 1930's risk being lost to time.

Keywords: copyright law, copyright infringement, public domain, free access, Internet access, preservation, cultural history, 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, CTEA, Eldred v. Ashcroft, Copyright Clause, copyleft

Accepted Paper Series