Copyright Clause

Clause of the U.S. constitution allowing intellectual property protection

The Copyright Clause (also known as the Intellectual Property Clause, Copyright and Patent Clause, or the Progress Clause[1]) describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 8).

The clause, which is the basis of copyright and patent laws in the United States, states that:[2]

> [the United States Congress shall have power] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

## History

[edit]

On August 18, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was in the midst of a weeks-long stretch of proposals to establish what would become the enumerated powers of the United States Congress. Three such proposals made on that day addressed what are now lumped together under intellectual property rights. One, by Charles Pinckney was "to secure to authors exclusive rights for a limited time". The other two were made by James Madison, who had previously served on a committee of the Congress established under the Articles of Confederation which had encouraged the individual states to adopt copyright legislation. Madison proposed that the Constitution permit Congress "to secure to literary authors their copyrights for a limited time", or, in the alternative, "to encourage, by proper premiums & Provisions, the advancement of useful knowledge and discoveries".[3]

Both proposals were referred to the Committee of Detail, which reported back on September 5, 1787, with a proposal containing the current language of the clause. No record exists to explain the exact choice of words selected by the Committee on Detail, whose task was essentially no more than creating a draft Constitution by arranging the proposals that had been made into the most appropriate language. On September 17, 1787, the members of the Convention unanimously agreed to the proposed language, without debate, and this language was incorporated into the Constitution.[3]

## Effect

[edit]

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The clause was interpreted as two distinct powers: the power to secure for limited times to authors the exclusive right to their writings is the basis for U.S. copyright law, and the power to secure for limited times to inventors the exclusive rights to their discoveries is the basis for U.S. patent law. Because the clause contains no language under which Congress may protect trademarks, those are instead protected under the Commerce Clause. Some terms in the clause are used in archaic meanings, potentially confusing modern readers. For example, "useful Arts" does not refer to artistic endeavors, but rather to the work of artisans, people skilled in a manufacturing craft; "Sciences" refers not only to fields of modern scientific inquiry but rather to all knowledge.[4]

The Copyright Clause is "the only clause that comes with its own, built-in justification".[5] The United States Supreme Court has decided numerous cases interpreting the text.[6]

Furthermore, the clause only permits protection of the writings of authors and the discoveries of inventors. Hence, writings may only be protected to the extent that they are original,[7][non-primary source needed] and "inventions" must be truly inventive and not merely obvious improvements on existing knowledge.[8][non-primary source needed] The term "writings of authors" appears to exclude non-human authorship such as painting by chimpanzees and computer code written by programmed computers.[9][non-primary source needed]

Although perpetual copyrights and patents are prohibited—the language specifies "limited times"—the Supreme Court has ruled in Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003) that repeated extensions to the term of copyright do not constitute a perpetual copyright. In that case, the United States Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, also known pejoratively as the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act."[10][failed verification][better source needed] Petitioners in that case argued that successive retroactive extensions of copyright were functionally unlimited and hence violated the limited times language of the clause. Justice Ginsburg, writing for the Court, rejected this argument, reasoning that the terms provided by the Act were limited in duration and noted that Congress had a long history of granting retroactive extensions.[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

English Wikisource has original text related to this article:

U.S. Const. 1.8.8

* United States Constitution
* Copyright
* United States copyright law
* United States patent law
* Stanford v. Roche

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Lessig, Lawrence (2004). Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity (PDF) (PDF ed.). Internet Archive. pp. 130–131\. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
2. ^ "COPYRIGHTS AND PATENTS". U.S. Constitution Annotated. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
3. ^ a b William F. Patry, Copyright Law and Practice (1994).
4. ^ Ochoa, Tyler T. (2007). "Chapter 7: Copyright Duration: Theories and Practice". In Yu, Peter K. (ed.). Intellectual Property and Information Wealth: Copyright and related rights. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 133\. ISBN 9780275988838. OCLC 71427267.
5. ^ "Center for the Study of the Public Domain, Casebook Chapter Two: Intellectual Property & the Constitution". Duke University School of Law. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
6. ^ Mazumdar, Anandashankar (September 9, 2020). "Historic Court Cases That Helped Shape Scope of Copyright Protections | Copyright". The Library of Congress.
7. ^ See Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 349 (1991).
8. ^ Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966).
9. ^ See U.S. Copyright Office, Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices § 313.2 (3d ed. 2017) ("The Office will not register works produced by nature, animals, or plants.").
10. ^ See A Platonic Dialogue on Eldred v. Ashcroft Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Fenning, Karl (1929). "The Origin of the Patent and Copyright Clause of the Constitution". Journal of the Patent Office Society. 11: 438. ISSN 0096-3577.
* Michelle R Paz
* Hatch, Orrin G.; Lee, Thomas R. (2002). "To Promote the Progress Of Science: The Copyright Clause and Congress' Power to Extend Copyrights". Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. 16: 1–23\. ISSN 0897-3393.
* Ochoa, Tyler T.; Rose, Mark (2002). "The Anti-Monopoly Origins of the Patent and Copyright Clause". Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society. 84: 909. ISSN 0096-3577.
* Thomas Jefferson letters relating to Copyright Clause

* v
* t
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Constitution of the United States

Articles|

* Preamble
* I
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* VI
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Amendments|

| Bill of Rights|

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|

1795–1804|

* 11
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Reconstruction|

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20th century|

* 16
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Proposed|

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Interpretation|

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Signatories|

| Convention President|

* George Washington

|

New Hampshire|

* John Langdon
* Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts|

* Nathaniel Gorham
* Rufus King

Connecticut|

* William Samuel Johnson
* Roger Sherman

New York|

* Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey|

* William Livingston
* David Brearley
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* Jonathan Dayton

Pennsylvania|

* Benjamin Franklin
* Thomas Mifflin
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* George Clymer
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* Jared Ingersoll
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Delaware|

* George Read
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* John Dickinson
* Richard Bassett
* Jacob Broom

Maryland|

* James McHenry
* Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
* Daniel Carroll

Virginia|

* John Blair
* James Madison

North Carolina|

* William Blount
* Richard Dobbs Spaight
* Hugh Williamson

South Carolina|

* John Rutledge
* Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
* Charles Pinckney
* Pierce Butler

Georgia|

* William Few
* Abraham Baldwin

Convention Secretary|

* William Jackson

Related|

* Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
* Jacob Shallus
* William Lambert
* Bibliography of the United States Constitution
* Founding Fathers of the United States

Display
and legacy|

* National Archives
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* Worldwide influence

* v
* t
* e

U.S. Supreme Court Article I case law

Enumeration Clause of Section II

* Utah v. Evans (2002)
* Department of Commerce v. New York (2019)
* Trump v. New York (2020)

Qualifications Clauses of Sections II and III

* Powell v. McCormack (1969)
* U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
* Cook v. Gralike (2001)

Elections Clause of Section IV

* Ex parte Siebold (1879)
* Smiley v. Holm (1932)
* U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton (1995)
* Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015)
* Moore v. Harper (2023)

Speech or Debate Clause of Section VI

* Kilbourn v. Thompson (1881)
* United States v. Johnson (1966)
* Gravel v. United States (1972)

Origination Clause of Section VII

* Flint v. Stone Tracy Co. (1911)
* United States v. Munoz-Flores (1990)

Presentment Clause of Section VII

* Pocket Veto Case (1929)
* Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)
* Clinton v. City of New York (1998)

Taxing and Spending Clause of Section VIII

* Hylton v. United States (1796)
* Collector v. Day (1871)
* Springer v. United States (1881)
* Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895)
* Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1916)
* Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co. (1922)
* United States v. Butler (1936)
* Helvering v. Davis (1937)
* South Dakota v. Dole (1987)
* Sabri v. United States (2004)
* National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)

Commerce Clause of Section VIII

| Dormant Commerce Clause|

* Brown v. Maryland (1827)
* Willson v. Black-Bird Creek Marsh Co. (1829)
* Cooley v. Board of Wardens (1852)
* Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Co. v. Illinois (1886)
* Swift & Co. v. United States (1905)
* George W. Bush & Sons Co. v. Malloy (1925)
* Baldwin v. G.A.F. Seelig, Inc. (1935)
* Edwards v. California (1941)
* Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona (1945)
* Dean Milk Co. v. City of Madison (1951)
* Miller Bros. Co. v. Maryland (1954)
* Bibb v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc. (1959)
* National Bellas Hess v. Illinois (1967)
* Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. (1970)
* Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. (1976)
* Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady (1977)
* Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission (1977)
* City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey (1978)
* Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland (1978)
* Reeves, Inc. v. Stake (1980)
* Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. (1981)
* Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas (1982)
* White v. Mass. Council of Construction Employers (1983)
* South-Central Timber Development, Inc. v. Wunnicke (1984)
* Maine v. Taylor (1986)
* Healy v. Beer Institute, Inc. (1989)
* Quill Corp. v. North Dakota (1992)
* Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt (1992)
* Oregon Waste Systems, Inc. v. Department of Environmental Quality of Oregon (1994)
* C&A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown (1994)
* West Lynn Creamery, Inc. v. Healy (1994)
* Granholm v. Heald (2005)
* United Haulers Ass'n v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority (2007)
* Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis (2008)
* Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland v. Wynne (2015)
* South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (2018)
* Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas (2019)
* National Pork Producers Council v. Ross (2023)

|

Others|

* Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
* Passenger Cases (1849)
* Paul v. Virginia (1869)
* Cooper Manufacturing Co. v. Ferguson (1885)
* Kidd v. Pearson (1888)
* In re Debs (1895)
* United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895)
* Champion v. Ames (1903)
* Southern Railway Co. v. United States (1911)
* Hoke v. United States (1913)
* Houston East & West Texas Railway Co. v. United States (1914)
* Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)
* Board of Trade of City of Chicago v. Olsen (1923)
* A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)
* Gold Clause Cases (1935)
* Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan (1935)
* Carter v. Carter Coal Co. (1936)
* NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. (1937)
* United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938)
* McGoldrick v. Berwind-White Coal Mining Co. (1940)
* United States v. Darby Lumber Co. (1941)
* United States v. Wrightwood Dairy Co. (1942)
* Wickard v. Filburn (1942)
* United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Ass'n (1944)
* North American Co. v. SEC (1946)
* H.P. Hood & Sons v. Du Mond (1949)
* Henderson v. United States (1950)
* Canton Railroad Co. v. Rogan (1951)
* Boynton v. Virginia (1960)
* Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964)
* Katzenbach v. McClung (1964)
* Maryland v. Wirtz (1968)
* National League of Cities v. Usery (1976)
* Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Association, Inc. (1981)
* Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana (1981)
* EEOC v. Wyoming (1983)
* Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority (1985)
* New York v. United States (1992)
* United States v. Lopez (1995)
* Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida (1996)
* Reno v. Condon (2000)
* United States v. Locke (2000)
* Jones v. United States (2000)
* United States v. Morrison (2000)
* Gonzales v. Raich (2005)
* National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)
* Taylor v. United States (2016)

Coinage Clause of Section VIII

| Legal Tender Cases|

* Knox v. Lee (1871)
* Juilliard v. Greenman (1884)

|

Copyright Clause of Section VIII

| Copyright Act of 1790|

* Wheaton v. Peters (1834)
* Paige v. Banks (1872)
* Globe Newspaper Co. v. Walker (1908)

|

Patent Act of 1793|

* Tyler v. Tuel (1810)
* Evans v. Eaton (1818)
* Evans v. Eaton (1822)
* Evans v. Hettich (1822)

Patent infringement case law|

* Evans v. Jordan (1815)
* Hollister v. Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Co. (1885)
* Rowell v. Lindsay (1885)
* Schillinger v. United States (1894)
* Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell (1913)
* General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co. (1938)

Patentability case law|

* Pennock v. Dialogue (1829)
* Hotchkiss v. Greenwood (1851)
* O'Reilly v. Morse (1853)
* Cochrane v. Deener (1876)
* City of Elizabeth v. American Nicholson Pavement Co. (1878)
* Egbert v. Lippmann (1881)
* Consolidated Safety-Valve Co. v. Crosby Steam Gauge & Valve Co. (1885)
* Voss v. Fisher (1885)

Copyright Act of 1831|

* Wheaton v. Peters (1834)
* Backus v. Gould (1849)
* Stephens v. Cady (1853)
* Stevens v. Gladding (1854)
* Little v. Hall (1856)
* Paige v. Banks (1872)
* Baker v. Selden (1879)
* Callaghan v. Myers (1888)
* Higgins v. Keuffel (1891)
* Holmes v. Hurst (1899)
* Brady v. Daly (1899)
* Bolles v. Outing Co. (1899)
* Mifflin v. R. H. White Company (1903)
* Mifflin v. Dutton (1903)

Copyright Act of 1870|

* Perris v. Hexamer (1879)
* Trade-Mark Cases (1879)
* Merrell v. Tice (1881)
* Schreiber v. Sharpless (1884)
* Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony (1884)
* Thornton v. Schreiber (1888)
* Banks v. Manchester (1888)
* Callaghan v. Myers (1888)
* Thompson v. Hubbard (1889)
* Higgins v. Keuffel (1891)
* Belford v. Scribner (1892)
* Brady v. Daly (1899)
* Bolles v. Outing Co. (1899)
* Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Co. (1903)
* McLoughlin v. Raphael Tuck & Sons Co. (1903)
* American Tobacco Co. v. Werckmeister (1907)
* Werckmeister v. American Tobacco Co. (1907)
* United Dictionary Co. v. G. & C. Merriam Co. (1907)
* White-Smith Music Publishing Co. v. Apollo Co. (1908)
* Dun v. Lumbermen's Credit Ass'n (1908)
* Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus (1908)
* Scribner v. Straus (1908)
* Bong v. Campbell Art Co. (1909)
* Henry v. A.B. Dick Co. (1912)

Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890|

* Straus v. American Publishers Association (1913)
* Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States (1939)
* Fashion Originators' Guild of America v. FTC (1941)
* United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948)
* Broadcast Music, Inc. v. CBS Inc. (1979)

International Copyright Act of 1891|

* Press Pub. Co. v. Monroe (1896)
* McLoughlin v. Raphael Tuck & Sons Co. (1903)
* American Tobacco Co. v. Werckmeister (1907)
* White-Smith Music Publishing Co. v. Apollo Co. (1908)
* Globe Newspaper Co. v. Walker (1908)
* Bong v. Campbell Art Co. (1909)
* Caliga v. Inter Ocean Newspaper Co. (1909)
* Hills and Co. v. Hoover (1911)
* Kalem Co. v. Harper Bros. (1911)

Copyright Act of 1909|

* Hills and Co. v. Hoover (1911)
* DeJonge and Co. v. Breuker & Kessler Co. (1914)
* Herbert v. Shanley Co. (1917)
* Manners v. Morosco (1920)
* Fox Film Corp. v. Knowles (1923)
* Buck v. Jewell-LaSalle Realty Co. (1931)
* Douglas v. Cunningham (1935)
* Washingtonian Pub. Co. v. Pearson (1939)
* Sheldon v. Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corp. (1940)
* Fred Fisher Music Co. v. M. Witmark & Sons (1943)
* F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc. (1952)
* Mazer v. Stein (1954)
* De Sylva v. Ballentine (1956)
* Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co. (1964)
* Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States (1973)

Patent misuse case law|

* Motion Picture Patents Co. v. Universal Film Manufacturing Co. (1917)
* Morton Salt Co. v. G.S. Suppiger Co. (1942)

Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914|

* Fashion Originators' Guild of America v. FTC (1941)
* Dowling v. United States (1985)

Lanham Act|

* Inwood Laboratories, Inc. v. Ives Laboratories, Inc. (1982)
* San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee (1987)
* Two Pesos, Inc. v. Taco Cabana, Inc. (1992)
* Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co. (1995)
* College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board (1999)
* Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (2001)
* TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc. (2001)
* Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (2003)
* Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc. (2003)
* Lexmark International, Inc. v. Static Control Components, Inc. (2014)
* POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. (2014)
* Matal v. Tam (2017)
* Iancu v. Brunetti (2019)
* Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc. (2020)

Copyright Act of 1976|

* Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co. (1977)
* Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (1984)
* Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder (1985)
* Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985)
* Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid (1989)
* Stewart v. Abend (1990)
* Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co. (1991)
* Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. (1994)
* Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (1994)
* Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l, Inc. (1996)
* Quality King Distributors Inc., v. L'anza Research International Inc. (1998)
* Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (1998)
* New York Times Co. v. Tasini (2001)
* Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)
* MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. (2005)
* Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick (2010)
* Golan v. Holder (2012)
* Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2013)
* Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (2014)
* American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. (2014)
* Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc. (2017)
* Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com (2019)
* Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle USA Inc. (2019)
* Allen v. Cooper (2020)
* Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (2020)

Other copyright cases|

* American Lithographic Co. v. Werkmeister (1911)
* Ferris v. Frohman (1912)
* Order of St. Benedict of New Jersey v. Steinhauser (1914)
* International News Service v. Associated Press (1918)
* L. A. Westermann Co. v. Dispatch Printing Co. (1919)
* Lumiere v. Mae Edna Wilder, Inc. (1923)
* Educational Films Corp. v. Ward (1931)
* Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal (1932)
* George v. Victor Talking Machine Co. (1934)
* KVOS v. Associated Press (1936)
* Gibbs v. Buck (1939)
* Buck v. Gallagher (1939)
* Commissioner v. Wodehouse (1949)
* Miller Music Corp. v. Charles N. Daniels, Inc. (1960)
* Pub. Affairs Associates, Inc. v. Rickover (1962)
* Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc. (1968)
* Goldstein v. California (1973)
* Teleprompter Corp. v. Columbia Broadcasting (1974)
* Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken (1975)

Other patent cases|

* Continental Paper Bag Co. v. Eastern Paper Bag Co. (1908)
* Minerals Separation, Ltd. v. Hyde (1916)
* United States v. General Electric Co. (1926)
* United States v. Univis Lens Co. (1942)
* Altvater v. Freeman (1943)
* Sinclair & Carroll Co. v. Interchemical Corp. (1945)
* Funk Bros. Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co. (1948)
* Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Supermarket Equipment Corp. (1950)
* Graver Tank & Manufacturing Co. v. Linde Air Products Co. (1950)
* Aro Manufacturing Co. v. Convertible Top Replacement Co. (1961)
* Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc. (1964)
* Wilbur-Ellis Co. v. Kuther (1964)
* Brulotte v. Thys Co. (1964)
* Walker Process Equipment, Inc. v. Food Machinery & Chemical Corp. (1965)
* Graham v. John Deere Co. (1966)
* United States v. Adams (1966)
* Brenner v. Manson (1966)
* Lear, Inc. v. Adkins (1969)
* Anderson's-Black Rock, Inc. v. Pavement Salvage Co. (1969)
* Zenith Radio Corp. v. Hazeltine Research, Inc. (1971)
* Gottschalk v. Benson (1972)
* United States v. Glaxo Group Ltd. (1973)
* Dann v. Johnston (1976)
* Sakraida v. Ag Pro Inc. (1976)
* Parker v. Flook (1978)
* Diamond v. Chakrabarty (1980)
* Diamond v. Diehr (1981)
* Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc. (1989)
* Eli Lilly & Co. v. Medtronic, Inc. (1990)
* Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. (1996)
* Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co. (1997)
* Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc. (1998)
* Dickinson v. Zurko (1999)
* Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank (1999)
* J. E. M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. (2001)
* Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co. (2002)
* Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. (2005)
* eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C. (2006)
* Illinois Tool Works Inc. v. Independent Ink, Inc. (2006)
* LabCorp v. Metabolite, Inc. (2006)
* MedImmune, Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. (2007)
* KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. (2007)
* Microsoft Corp. v. AT&T Corp. (2007)
* Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. (2008)
* Bilski v. Kappos (2010)
* Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. (2011)
* Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. (2011)
* Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Ltd. Partnership (2011)
* Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. (2012)
* Kappos v. Hyatt (2012)
* Bowman v. Monsanto Co. (2013)
* Gunn v. Minton (2013)
* Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. (2013)
* FTC v. Actavis, Inc. (2013)
* Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International (2014)
* Akamai Techs., Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc. (2014)
* Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Sandoz, Inc. (2015)
* Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC (2015)
* Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. (2016)
* TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (2017)
* Peter v. NantKwest, Inc. (2019)

Other trademark cases|

* G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Syndicate Pub. Co. (1915)
* Kellogg Co. v. National Biscuit Co. (1938)
* Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V. (2020)

Necessary and Proper Clause of Section VIII

* McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
* Lambert v. Yellowley (1926)
* Sabri v. United States (2004)
* Gonzales v. Raich (2005)
* United States v. Comstock (2010)
* United States v. Kebodeaux (2013)

Habeas corpus Suspension Clause of Section IX

* Ex parte Bollman (1807)
* Ex parte Merryman (1861)
* Ex parte Endo (1944)
* Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr (2001)
* Boumediene v. Bush (2008)
* Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam (2020)

No Bills of Attainder or Ex post facto Laws Clause of Section IX

* Calder v. Bull (1798)
* Sturges v. Crowninshield (1819)
* Ex parte Garland (1866)
* Hawker v. New York (1898)
* Samuels v. McCurdy (1925)
* Garner v. Board of Public Works (1951)
* De Veau v. Braisted (1960)
* Barr v. City of Columbia (1964)
* Teague v. Lane (1989)
* Kansas v. Hendricks (1997)
* Smith v. Doe (2003)

Contract Clause of Section X

| Legal Tender Cases|

* Hepburn v. Griswold (1870)

|

Others|

* Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
* Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
* Sturges v. Crowninshield (1819)
* Ogden v. Saunders (1827)
* Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837)
* Bronson v. Kinzie (1843)
* Stone v. Mississippi (1880)
* Smyth v. Ames (1898)
* Block v. Hirsh (1921)
* Home Building & Loan Ass'n v. Blaisdell (1934)
* W.B. Worthen Co. v. Kavanaugh (1935)
* City of El Paso v. Simmons (1965)
* U.S. Trust Co. of N.Y. v. New Jersey (1977)
* Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus (1978)
* Energy Reserves Group v. Kansas P. & L. Co. (1983)
* Exxon Corp. v. Eagerton (1983)
* Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n v. DeBenedictis (1987)
* Sveen v. Melin (2018)

Import-Export Clause of Section X

* Brown v. Maryland (1827)
* Canton Railroad Co. v. Rogan (1951)

Compact Clause of Section X

* Florida v. Georgia (1855)
* Virginia v. West Virginia (1871)
* Virginia v. Tennessee (1893)
* Wharton v. Wise (1894)
* Northeast Bancorp v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1985)
* New Jersey v. New York (1998)
* Virginia v. Maryland (2003)
* Polar Tankers, Inc. v. City of Valdez (2009)
* Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado (2018)

* v
* t
* e

Copyright law of the United States

* 17 U.S.C.
* Copyright Clause
* United States Copyright Office
* Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices
* CARP → CRB
* Copyright Catalog
* Register of Copyrights
* Section 108 Study Group
* Copyright status of works by the federal government of the United States
* Copyright status of works by subnational governments of the United States

Statutes|

| Pre-1976|

* Copyright Act of 1790
* Copyright Act of 1831
* Copyright Act of 1870
* International Copyright Act of 1891
* Printing Act of 1895
* Copyright Act of 1909

|

1970s|

* Copyright Act of 1976

1980s|

* Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988

1990s|

* Visual Artists Rights Act (1990)
* Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (1990)
* Copyright Renewal Act of 1992
* Audio Home Recording Act (1992)
* Uruguay Round Agreements Act (1994)
* No Electronic Theft Act (1994)
* Copyright Term Extension Act (1998)
* Fairness in Music Licensing Act of 1998
* Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)
* Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
* WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act

2000s|

* Family Entertainment and Copyright Act (2005)

2010s|

* Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (2014)
* Music Modernization Act (2018)

2020s|

* CASE Act (2020)

Precedents
and rulings|

| Supreme Court|

* Wheaton v. Peters (1834)
* Baker v. Selden (1879)
* Trade-Mark Cases (1879)
* Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony (1884)
* Banks v. Manchester (1888)
* Callaghan v. Myers (1888)
* Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus (1908)
* White-Smith Music Publishing Co. v. Apollo Co. (1908)
* Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States (1975)
* Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (1984)
* Feist v. Rural (1991)
* Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. (1994)
* Quality King v. L'anza (1998)
* Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)
* MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. (2005)
* Costco Wholesale Corp. v. Omega, S. A. (2010)
* Golan v. Holder (2012)
* Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2013)
* American Broadcasting Cos., Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. (2014)
* Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands (2017)
* Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com (2019)
* Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (2020)
* Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (2021)
* Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith (2023)

|

Appeals courts|

* Berlin v. E.C. Publications, Inc. (2d Cir. 1964)
* Roth Greeting Cards v. United Card Co. (9th Cir. 1970)
* Eltra Corp. v. Ringer (4th Cir. 1978)
* Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates (9th Cir. 1978)
* Midway Manufacturing Co. v. Artic International, Inc. (7th Cir. 1983)
* Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp. (3d Cir. 1983)
* Fisher v. Dees (9th Cir. 1986)
* Whelan v. Jaslow (3d Cir. 1986)
* Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software Ltd. (5th Cir. 1988)
* Rogers v. Koons (2nd Cir. 1992)
* Computer Associates International, Inc. v. Altai, Inc. (2d Cir. 1992)
* American Geophysical Union v. Texaco, Inc. (2nd Cir. 1995)
* Dr. Seuss Enters., L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc.(9th Cir. 1997)
* Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc. (2d Cir. 1998)
* Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. v. Connectix Corp. (9th Cir. 2000)
* Nunez v. Caribbean Int'l News Corp. (1st Cir. 2000)
* A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. (9th Cir. 2001)
* Veeck v. Southern Building Code Congress Int'l (5th Cir. 2002)
* Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp. (9th Cir. 2002 / 2003)
* In re Aimster Copyright Litigation (7th Cir. 2003)
* NXIVM Corp. v. Ross Institute (2d Cir. 2004)
* BMG Music v. Gonzalez (7th Cir. 2005)
* Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd. (2nd Cir. 2006)
* Blanch v. Koons (2nd Cir. 2006)
* Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. (9th Cir. 2006)
* Cartoon Network, LP v. CSC Holdings, Inc. (2nd Cir. 2008)
* Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc. (9th Cir. 2010)
* Penguin Group (USA) Inc. v. American Buddha (2d Cir. 2011)
* Monge v. Maya Magazines, Inc. (9th Cir. 2012)
* Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. (2d Cir. 2012)
* Seltzer v. Green Day, Inc (9th Cir. 2013)
* Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. (2d Cir. 2015)
* Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. (9th Cir. 2015)
* Naruto v. Slater (9th Cir. 2018)

Lower courts|

* Folsom v. Marsh (C.C.D. Mass. 1841)
* Elektra Records Co. v. Gem Electronic Distributors, Inc. (E.D.N.Y. 1973)
* Broderbund Software Inc. v. Unison World, Inc. (N.D. Cal. 1986)
* Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Frena (M.D. Fla. 1993)
* Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. (S.D.N.Y. 1999)
* RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc. (W.D. Wash. 2000)
* Mannion v. Coors Brewing Co. (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
* Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC (S.D.N.Y. 2010)
* Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 2013)
* Equals Three, LLC v. Jukin Media, Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2015)
* Hachette v. Internet Archive (S.D.N.Y. 2023)
* Universal Music Group v. Internet Archive (S.D.N.Y. 2023)

* Berne Convention
* Uruguay Round
* Don't Copy That Floppy
* Home Recording Rights Coalition
* Nimmer on Copyright
* "You Wouldn't Steal a Car"

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