Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-545.pdf
Page Number: 54

Cite as:  565 U. S. ____ (2012) 

9 

BREYER, J., dissenting 

§104A(h)(6)(D).  The  Act  grants  these  works  a  copyright 
that  expires  at  the  time  it  would  have  expired  had  the
author  obtained  a  full  American  copyright  term  starting
from  the  date  on  which  the  work  was  first  published  (in
the foreign country).  §104A(a)(1)(B). 

The  Act  mainly  applies  to  works  first  published  abroad
between 1923 and 1989.  It does not apply significantly to
earlier  works  because  any  work  published  before  1921 
would have fallen into the public domain before 1977 had 
it  received  a  full  American  copyright  term,  while  works 
published  between  1921  and  1923  obtained  a  “restored” 
copyright  that  expired  before  the 1998  Sonny  Bono  Copy­
right  Term  Extension  Act,  and  so  could  have  lasted  two 
years  at  most.  See  Tit.  I,  §101,  90  Stat.  2574  (extending 
the  copyright  term  of  works  still  under  copyright  in  1977 
to  75  years);  17  U. S. C.  §304(b)  (extending  the  copyright 
term of works still under copyright in 1998 to 95 years).  It 
has  less  impact  on  more  recent  works  because  in  1989 
the United States became a Berne member, abolished the 
copyright  notice  requirement,  and  thenceforth  provided
prospective  copyright  protection  throughout  the  Berne 
Union.  See  R.  Schechter  &  J.  Thomas,  Intellectual  Prop­
erty: The Law of Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks 75–
77 (2003); §7, 102 Stat. 2857–2858 (codified as amended at 
17 U. S. C. §§401–406).

Despite  these  temporal  limitations,  the  Act  covers  vast
numbers  of  works.  The  first  category  includes  works 
published  in  countries  that  had  copyright  relations  with
the United States during this time period, such as most of 
Western Europe and Latin America, Australia, and Japan,
see  Circular  No.  38A,  supra,  at  2–10,  whose  authors  did 
not  satisfy  American  copyright  formalities,  perhaps  be­
cause  the  author,  who  may  not  have  sought  an  American
copyright,  published  the  book  abroad  without  proper
American notice, or perhaps because the author obtained a 
valid American copyright but failed to renew it.