Eldred v. Ashcroft
| Eldred v. Ashcroft | |
|---|---|
| Argued October 9, 2002 Decided January 15, 2003 | |
| Full case name | Eric Eldred, et al. v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General |
| Docket no. | 01-618 |
| Citations | 537 U.S. 186 (more) 123 S. Ct. 769, 154 L. Ed. 2d 683, 71 U.S.L.W. 4052 |
| Decision | Opinion |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Eldred v. Reno, 74 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 1999); aff'd, 239 F.3d 372 (D.C. Cir. 2001); rehearing and rehearing en banc denied, 255 F.3d 849 (D.C. Cir. 2001); cert. granted, 534 U.S. 1126 (2002); order granting cert. amended, 534 U.S. 1160 (2002). |
| Subsequent | Rehearing denied, 538 U.S. 916 (2003). |
| Holding | |
| 20-year retroactive extension of existing copyright terms did not violate the Copyright Clause or the First Amendment of the Constitution. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Ginsburg, joined by Rehnquist, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas |
| Dissent | Stevens |
| Dissent | Breyer |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. Art. I, § 8, cl. 8; U.S. Const. amend. I; Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 | |
Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the constitutionality of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). Plaintiffs, led by Internet publisher Eric Eldred, argued that the statute was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court disagreed and allowed the statute to remain in effect.