Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/18-1150_new_d18e.pdf
Page Number: 38.0

Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

17 

THOMAS, J., dissenting 

States, private parties, and legal researchers who relied on 
the previously bright-line rule.  Perhaps, to the detriment
of  all,  many  States  will  stop  producing  annotated codes 
altogether.  Were  that  to  occur,  the  majority’s  fear  of  an 
“economy-class” version of the law will truly become a real-
ity.  See ante, at 17.  As Georgia explains, its contract ena-
bles the OCGA to be sold at a fraction of the cost of compet-
ing  annotated  codes.  For  example,  Georgia  asserts  that
Lexis sold the OCGA for $404 in 2016, while West Publish-
ing’s  competing  annotated  code  sold  for  $2,570.  Should 
state annotated codes disappear, those without the means
to  pay  the  competitor’s  significantly  higher  price  tag  will
have  a  valuable  research  tool  taken  away  from  them. 
Meanwhile, this Court, which is privileged to have access to
numerous  research  resources,  will  scarcely  notice.  These 
negative  practical  ramifications  are  unfortunate  enough
when  they  reflect  the  deliberative  legislative  choices  that 
we as judges are bound to respect.  They are all the more 
regrettable when they are the result of our own meddling. 
Fortunately,  as  the  majority  and  I  agree,  “ ‘critics  of  [to-
day’s]  ruling  can  take  their  objections  across  the  street,
[where] Congress can correct any mistake it sees.’ ”  Ante, at 
13  (quoting  Kimble  v.  Marvel  Entertainment,  LLC,  576 
U. S. 446, 456 (2015)).

We  have  “stressed  . . . that  it  is  generally  for  Congress,
not the courts, to decide how best to pursue the Copyright 
Clause’s objectives,” Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U. S. 186, 212 
(2003), because “it is Congress that has been assigned the
task  of  defining  the  scope  of  the  limited  monopoly  that 
should  be  granted  to  authors,”  Sony  Corp.  of  America  v. 
Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U. S. 417, 429 (1984).  Be-
cause  the  majority  has  strayed  from  its  proper  role,  I  re-
spectfully dissent.