Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/11pdf/10-545.pdf
Page Number: 35.0

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

31 

Opinion of the Court 

instance,  U. S.  libraries  that  attempt  to  catalogue  U. S.
books.    See  post,  at  12.    See  also  Brief  for  American  Li-
brary  Association  et al.  as  Amici  Curiae  22  (Section  514 
“exacerbated,”  but  did  not  create,  the  problem  of  orphan 
works);  U. S.  Copyright  Office,  supra,  at  41–44  (tracing 
orphan-works problem to Congress’ elimination of formali-
ties, commencing with the 1976 Copyright Act).36 

Nor is this a matter appropriate for judicial, as opposed 
to legislative, resolution.  Cf. Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., 
770  F. Supp.  2d  666,  677–678  (SDNY  2011)  (rejecting
proposed  “Google  Books”  class  settlement  because,  inter 
alia,  “the  establishment  of  a  mechanism  for  exploiting
unclaimed  books  is  a  matter  more  suited  for  Congress
than  this  Court”  (citing  Eldred,  537  U. S.,  at  212)).    In-
deed,  the  host  of  policy  and  logistical  questions  identified 
by the dissent speak for themselves.  Post, at 12.  Despite 
“longstanding efforts,” see Authors Guild, 770 F. Supp. 2d, 
at  678  (quoting  statement  of  Marybeth  Peters),  Congress
has  not  yet  passed  ameliorative  orphan-works  legislation
of  the  sort  enacted  by  other  Berne  members,  see,  e.g., 
Canada  Copyright  Act,  R. S. C.,  1985,  c.  C–42,  §77  (au-
thorizing  Copyright  Board  to  license  use  of  orphan  works
by  persons  unable,  after  making  reasonable  efforts,  to
locate  the  copyright  owner).    Heretofore,  no  one  has  sug-
gested  that  the  orphan-works  issue  should  be  addressed 
through  our 
implementation  of  Berne,  rather  than 
through  overarching  legislation  of  the  sort  proposed  in 
Congress  and  cited  by  the  dissent.  See  post,  at  23–24; 
U. S.  Copyright  Office,  Legal  Issues  in  Mass  Digitization 
25–29  (2011)  (discussing  recent  legislative  efforts).  Our 
unstinting  adherence  to  Berne  may  add  impetus  to  calls 

—————— 

36 The  pervasive  problem  of  copyright  piracy,  noted  post,  at  13,  like-
wise  is  scarcely  limited  to  protected  foreign  works  formerly  in  the
public domain.