Opinion ID: 786707
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Effect of Anderson

Text: 24 This analytical framework has been changed by Anderson, 539 U.S. at 8-11, 123 S.Ct. 2058. The complaint in that case alleged state law usury claims against a national bank chartered under the National Bank Act. Section 85 of the National Bank Act, 12 U.S.C. § 85, specifies the substantive limits on the rates of interest that national banks may charge, while § 86 of the Act, 12 U.S.C. § 86, sets forth the elements, statute of limitations, and remedies for usury claims against national banks. In holding that the National Bank Act renders state law usury claims against national banks removable, the Supreme Court used these two sections to distinguish between normal preemption and complete preemption. 25 The Court noted that § 85, on its own, preempts state law claims against national banks for charging interest that is within the § 85 limits. Anderson, 539 U.S. at 9, 123 S.Ct. 2058. Such preemption, however, is not complete, and thus would not create jurisdiction, because § 85 does not provide an exclusive federal cause of action. Id. Section 86, on the other hand, does provide an exclusive federal cause of action for usury claims against national banks and therefore does fall within the complete preemption doctrine so as to create federal jurisdiction. Id. at 9-10, 123 S.Ct. 2058. In so holding, the Court was willing to overlook the fact that § 86 was promulgated in 1864, before removal to federal courts was even possible. It ruled that the proper inquiry focuses on whether Congress intended the federal cause of action to be exclusive rather than on whether Congress intended that the cause of action be removable. Id. at 9 n. 5, 123 S.Ct. 2058. 26 Given the Supreme Court's approach in Anderson, we conclude that it means to extend the complete preemption doctrine to any federal statute that both preempts state law and substitutes a federal remedy for that law, thereby creating an exclusive federal cause of action. See Richard H. Fallon, Jr. et al., The Federal Courts and the Federal System 22 (5th ed. Supp.2003) (reaching the same conclusion). The Copyright Act does just that. Like the National Bank Act in Anderson, the Copyright Act lays out the elements, statute of limitations, and remedies for copyright infringement. See 17 U.S.C. §§ 501-513 (2000). It therefore follows that the district courts have jurisdiction over state law claims preempted by the Copyright Act. The question we now turn to is whether any of plaintiffs' claims are in fact preempted.