Case Background
Overview of Eldred, et al. v. Ashcroft
On February 19, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in the case Eldred, et al. v. Ashcroft, which challenges the constitutionality of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). Passed in 1998, the CTEA added 20 years to the term of copyright for both subsisting and future copyrights. As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia observed, the case "marks the first occasion for an appellate court to address whether the First Amendment or the Copyright Clause of the Constitution of the United States constrains the Congress from extending for a period…
