More bile for Ashcroft- Court rules on Motion to Dismiss in Golan v. Ashcroft

District Judge Lewis T. Babcock granted in part and denied in part the Government's Motion to Dismiss. Here's the opinion. The Court dismissed Count IV, challenging the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, holding that the Supreme Court's decision in Eldred rejected the theory pleaded in the Amended Complaint, based on Justice Breyer's dissent. (We beg to differ). The Court refused to dismiss any of the Counts challenging Copyright Restoration under the Uruguay Round Agreement Act. Count I alleges that the URAA violates the Copyright Clause of the Constitution because Congress attempted to grant copyright in works that were already in the public domain. Count II alleges that the URAA infringes the public's first amendment rights. Count III alleges that violates Plaintiffs' rights to substantive due process by unfairly depriving them of property without due process of law. The Court found that none of these issues was decided in Eldred and seemed to find the Government's arguments unpersuasive.
More on Lessig's blog and a press release from the Center for Internet & Society to come soon.