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Page Number: 53

8 

GOLAN v. HOLDER 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

U. S.,  at  222.    But  does  the  Clause  empower  Congress  to
enact  a  statute  that  withdraws  works  from  the  public
domain, brings about higher prices and costs, and in doing 
so  seriously  restricts  dissemination,  particularly  to  those 
who  need  it  for  scholarly,  educational,  or  cultural  pur- 
poses—all  without  providing  any  additional  incentive  for 
the  production  of  new  material?    That  is  the  question
before us.  And, as I have said, I believe the answer is no. 
Congress in this statute has exceeded what are, under any 
plausible reading of the Copyright Clause, its permissible
limits. 

II 
The Act before us says that it “restores” American copy­
right  to  a  set  of  works,  which,  for  the  most  part,  did  not
previously  enjoy  American  copyright  protection.    These 
works  had  fallen  into  America’s  public  domain,  but  as  of 
the “restoration” date, they had not yet fallen into the pub­
lic domain of the foreign country where they originated. 

The  statute  covers  works  originating  almost  anywhere
outside  the  United  States.  See  17  U. S. C.  §104A(h)(3) 
(setting  out  eligibility  criteria);  U. S.  Copyright  Office, 
Circular No. 38A: International Copyright Relations of the
United  States  (2010).    The  relevant  set  of  works  consists 
primarily of works originating abroad that did not obtain, 
or  at  some  point  lost,  American  copyright  protection  be­
cause  (1)  the  author  failed  to  comply  with  applicable 
American  copyright  formalities  (such  as  notice  or  renew­
al),  or  (2)  the  nation  in  which  they  were  first  published 
then lacked copyright relations with the United States, or 
(3)  they  are  sound  recordings  fixed  before  February  15,
1972.  §104A(h)(6)(C).  A  work  must  also  satisfy  other 
technical  requirements:  It  must  have  had  a  rightholder 
who  was  a  national  or  resident  of  an  eligible  country  on 
the day it was created; and it cannot have been published 
in the United States within 30 days of its first publication.