CO Doesn’t Recommend Abrogating State Immunity
The Copyright Office can’t recommend legislation that would abrogate “state sovereign immunity when states infringe copyrights,” the CO reported Tuesday. However, the office said it "nevertheless continues to believe that infringement by state entities is an issue worthy of congressional…
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action." It responded to a request from Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C. They asked in April 2020 to determine whether there’s “sufficient basis” for legislation, the CO said. The request followed the Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Cooper, in which the high court “held that Congress had exceeded its authority under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment when it enacted legislation authorizing copyright infringement suits for damages against states,” the CO said. Given legal standard demands and “ambiguity” in application, the office can’t “conclude with certainty that the evidence would be found sufficient to meet the constitutional standard for abrogation,” the CO said, noting it supports exploring alternatives.