On January 18, 2012, the Supreme Court confirmed 6-2 that
certain works that had entered the public domain could have their
copyright restored. Golan v. Holder, Case No. 10-545. The
works affected are estimated to number in the millions and could
include films by Alfred Hitchcock, such as The Birds;
books by Virginia Woolf, such as Mrs. Dalloway; symphonies
by Prokofiev, such as Peter and the Wolf; and paintings by
Picasso, such as Guernica.
The decision will not only affect the copyright owners, but also
anyone who relies on public domain works, particularly those
creating derivative works, reprint publishers, musicians, orchestra
conductors, teachers and film archivists.
The case considered the constitutionality of a portion of the
Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 104A, that was enacted in 1994 by
Congress in order to comply with the international accord, the
Berne Convention. Section 104A allows for certain works that had
previously entered the public domain to have
