Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-2026
Abstract
This article discusses the revelations in the case files of eight Supreme Court Justices concerning eighteen copyright-related decisions issued by the Court between 1973 and 2005. The papers show the Court as a profoundly human institution, with the Justices often struggling to craft opinions that could gain the support of a majority. The Justices clearly cared about the copyright merits, but they were also willing to compromise to achieve a certain result. In several cases, the final opinion was anything but inevitable. This was particularly so with Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417 (1984), where the effort to fashion a holding that could garner the support of a majority of the Court stretched over two terms.
Recommended Citation
Band, Jonathan, "Three Decades of Supreme Court Copyright Decisions: A Peek Behind the Scenes" (2026). Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series. 160.
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/research/160
Included in
Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, International Trade Law Commons, Supreme Court of the United States Commons