Implications of 'Eldred' Ruling

The CTEA increased the term provided by the Copyright Act of 1976 to from the life of an author plus 50 years, to life plus 70 years. For works made for hire, the term was increased to 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first. The 20-year increase aligned the United States with the copyright term that the European Union adopted in 1993, thereby providing reciprocal copyright protection for US authors in Europe. In fact, Congress extended the copyright term several times, beginning in 1831 when it increased the original two 14-year terms to a total of 42 years.

The petitioners, who utilize public domain works, argued that the CTEA's extension of existing copyrights violated the Copyright Clause, U.S. Const., Art. I, Sec. 8, cl. 8, and that the extension for existing and future copyrights violated the First Amendment. Both the district and appeals courts upheld the CTEA. Affirming, Ginsburg emphasized in her Supreme Court majority opinion that the 'limited times' language of the Copyright Clause allowed Congress to provide the same protection for present as well as future copyright holders. Ginsburg added that, in any case, 'Congress passed the CTEA in light of demographic, economic, and technological changes … and rationally credited projections that longer terms would encourage copyright holders to invest in the restoration and public distribution of their works.' On the First Amendment issue, the majority opinion stated, 'In addition to spurring the creation and publication of new expression, copyright law contains built-in First Amendment accommodations.'