Z:gnu-www-ja-eldred-amicus--07e418-Nor would the Takings Clause o/en

Nor would the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment permit such uncompensated legislative adjustment of the terms of interest in real property. Copyright&mdash;not surprisingly in view of its common law origins&mdash;adopts an essentially familiar structure of &ldquo;estates&rdquo; in works of authorship, beginning with a conveyance for term of years or a life interest plus a term of years, with a reversion to the public domain. This Court has held that legislative alteration of such estates that destroys or limits the reversionary interest in real property in order to achieve redistribution between private parties is &ldquo;public use&rdquo; within the meaning of the Takings Clause, and is constitutional if compensated. Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U.S. 229 (1984). But it has never been suggested that Congress or a state legislature could achieve a similarly vast wealth transfer to present lessees through the extension of the terms of all existing leases, extinguishing or indefinitely postponing the reversionary interest, without paying compensation.