Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-545.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

2 

GOLAN v. HOLDER 

Opinion of the Court 

its  full  copyright  term  has  expired,  causing  it  to  fall  into 
the public domain, whether under the laws of the country
of  origin  or  of  this  country.  Works  encompassed  by  §514
are  granted  the  protection  they  would  have  enjoyed  had
the United States maintained copyright relations with the 
author’s country or removed formalities incompatible with 
Berne.  Foreign  authors,  however,  gain  no  credit  for  the
protection they lacked in years prior to §514’s enactment. 
They  therefore  enjoy  fewer  total  years  of  exclusivity  than 
do their U. S. counterparts.  As a consequence of the barri-
ers to U. S. copyright protection prior to the enactment of 
§514,  foreign  works  “restored”  to  protection  by  the  meas-
ure  had  entered  the  public  domain  in  this  country.    To 
cushion the impact of their placement in protected status, 
Congress  included  in  §514  ameliorating  accommodations
for  parties  who  had  exploited  affected  works  before  the 
URAA was enacted. 

Petitioners include orchestra conductors, musicians, pub-
lishers,  and  others  who  formerly  enjoyed  free  access  to
works §514 removed from the public domain.  They main-
tain that the Constitution’s Copyright and Patent Clause,
Art. I,  §8,  cl. 8,  and  First  Amendment  both  decree  the 
invalidity of §514.  Under those prescriptions of our high-
est  law,  petitioners  assert,  a  work  that  has  entered  the 
public  domain,  for  whatever  reason,  must  forever  remain
there. 

In  accord  with  the  judgment  of  the  Tenth  Circuit,  we
conclude  that  §514  does  not  transgress  constitutional 
limitations on Congress’ authority.  Neither the Copyright 
and  Patent  Clause  nor  the  First  Amendment,  we  hold, 
makes the public domain, in any and all cases, a territory 
that works may never exit. 

I 
A 

Members of the Berne Union agree to treat authors from 
other  member  countries  as  well  as  they  treat  their  own.