Eldred v. Ashcroft

Eldred v. Ashcroft was a 2003 Supreme Court case challenging the copyright extension law passed in 1998, which extended copyright terms by 20 years. Eldred and others argued that this extension was an unconstitutional taking of their rights without just compensation and violated the First Amendment by limiting access to information. The Court upheld the law, ruling that Congress has the authority to extend copyright terms as part of promoting progress and the arts, and that the extension did not violate the Constitution. Essentially, the Court supported Congress’s power to extend copyright durations, balancing creators’ rights with public access.