Golan v. Holder

Background

Petitioners are orchestra conductors, musicians, publishers, and others who had used foreign works that entered the U.S. public domain. In 1994 Congress enacted §514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) to implement the Berne Convention and TRIPS. Section 514 restores U.S. copyright to foreign works that lacked U.S. protection because of past formalities, lack of national eligibility, or pre-1972 sound recording rules, and it excludes works whose full copyright term already expired.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether Congress had authority under the Copyright Clause and whether the First Amendment bars removal of works from the public domain. The majority relied on precedent (including Eldred), historical congressional practice, and Congress’ judgment to comply with international obligations. The Court found §514 within Congress’ power, noting built-in safeguards in copyright law — the idea/expression distinction and the fair-use defense — and that Congress added notice and reliance-party protections to cushion prior users. For these reasons the law did not violate the First Amendment.

Real world impact

The ruling affirms that many foreign works once available free in the United States can regain copyright protection here. Performers, publishers, libraries, and archives may now need permission or pay royalties for restored works, and administrative steps (notice, searches, and reliance-party procedures) will affect reuse. The opinion recognizes orphan-works and administrative burdens but treats those as policy problems for Congress.

Dissents or concurrances

The dissent argued the statute withdraws material from the public domain without encouraging new creation, harms dissemination and cultural access, and raises orphan-works and administrative-cost concerns.