US Supreme Court Says Public Domain Works May Return to Copyright

Abstract

Golan et al. v Holder, Attorney General, et al., US Supreme Court, 565 US (2012), 18 January 2012. In a 6-2 ruling, the US Supreme Court held that Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994, which President Clinton had signed into law in order to restore copyright protection in foreign works which had fallen into the public domain, did not exceed Congress's authority under the Copyright Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution).