Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/12pdf/11-697_d1o2.pdf
Page Number: 13.0

Cite as:  568 U. S. ____ (2013) 

9 

Opinion of the Court 

§109(a) says nothing about geography.  The word “under” 
can  mean  “[i]n  accordance  with.”    18  Oxford  English  Dic­
tionary 950 (2d ed. 1989).  See also Black’s Law Dictionary 
1525 (6th ed. 1990) (“according  to”).  And a nongeograph­
ical  interpretation  provides  each  word  of  the  five-word
phrase with a distinct purpose.  The first two words of the 
phrase,  “lawfully  made,”  suggest  an  effort  to  distinguish
those copies that were made lawfully from those that were
not,  and  the  last  three  words,  “under  this  title,”  set  forth 
the  standard  of  “lawful[ness].”  Thus,  the  nongeograph- 
ical  reading  is  simple,  it  promotes  a  traditional  copyright
objective  (combatting  piracy),  and  it  makes  word-by-word 
linguistic sense.

The  geographical  interpretation,  however,  bristles  with 
linguistic  difficulties.  It  gives  the  word  “lawfully”  little, 
if any, linguistic work to do.  (How could a book be unlaw­
fully “made under this title”?)  It imports geography into a 
statutory  provision  that  says  nothing  explicitly  about  it. 
And it is far more complex than may at first appear. 

To  read  the  clause  geographically,  Wiley,  like  the  Sec­
ond  Circuit  and  the  Solicitor  General,  must  first  empha­
size  the  word  “under.”    Indeed,  Wiley  reads  “under  this 
title”  to  mean  “in  conformance  with  the  Copyright  Act 
where the Copyright Act is applicable.”  Brief for Respond­
ent 15.  Wiley must then take a second step, arguing that 
the  Act  “is  applicable”  only  in  the  United  States.    Ibid. 
And the Solicitor General must do the same.  See Brief for 
United States 6 (“A copy is ‘lawfully made under this title’ 
if Title 17 governs the copy’s creation and the copy is made
in  compliance  with  Title  17’s  requirements”).  See  also 
post,  at  7  (GINSBURG,  J.,  dissenting)  (“under”  describes 
something “governed or regulated by another”).

One  difficulty  is  that  neither  “under”  nor  any  other 
word  in  the  phrase  means  “where.”  See,  e.g.,  18  Oxford 
English  Dictionary,  supra,  at  947–952  (definition  of  “un­
der”).  It might mean “subject to,” see post, at 6, but as this