This article continues the theme of an article I wrote in late 2004 concerning U.S. v. Martignon, 346 F. Supp. 2d 413 (S.D.N.Y. 2004), in which the district court for the Southern District of New York found that 18 U.S.C. �2319A (the “anti-bootleg statute”) was unconstitutional on the ground that Congress had exceeded its delegated power to legislate copyright law when it enacted the statute. My previous article observed that Martignon implicated several important and fundamental public policies in reaching its decision, among which are the protection of intellectual property, constitutional limits on congressional power to enact laws, freedom of expression as protected by the First Amendment, and the necessity of laws threatening a citizen’s liberty to be definite and within a legitimate ambit of congressional authority to act.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals decided the appeal in U.S. v. Martignon, 2007 WL 1695089 (2d Cir. June 13, 2007), this past June and has now issued a ruling that underscores the clash of fundamental policies that this case presents. As this article describes, the Second Circuit reversed the district court, finding that the Constitution does indeed legitimate Congress’ legislative exercise to extend criminal penalties against bootleg recorders of live performances.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
