WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld a law that extended U.S. copyright protection to books, musical compositions and other works by foreign artists that had been available without paying royalties.
The justices said in a 6-2 decision Wednesday that Congress acted within its power to give protection to works that had been in the public domain.
The case concerned a 1994 law that was intended to bring the U.S. into compliance with an international treaty on intellectual property. The law made copyright protection available to foreign works that previously could not have been copyrighted.
Community orchestras, academics and others who rely on non-copyrighted works challenged the law, saying it has become too expensive to use "Peter and the Wolf" and other works newly protected under the law.
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