Z:gnu-www-ja-eldred-amicus--5a1d50-The CTEA unconstitutionally im/en

The CTEA unconstitutionally imperils the commons of the public domain by flouting the clear intention of the limited term requirement. If Congress had acted unilaterally to reduce copyright terms, as the Solicitor General seems to believe it may, forcing some material into the public domain decades ahead of current schedule, no doubt the copyright industries would attack the legislation as a taking. If, on the other hand, Congress acted to extend every 50-year lease by the federal government for an additional 99 years at the government's current rent, there is no question that compensation would be required. Congress should not be permitted to take the public's reversionary interest in the public domain, any more than it can take a portion of the copyright holder's original term or of any leasehold interest in real property. The constitutional system of free expression, the language of the Copyright Clause, and the history of our tradition demand no less.