The Silent Five
Lawrence Lessig,
Lessig Blog,
Jan 16, 2003
More reaction today to the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the copyright extension act. My own take is just what it was at the beginning of the hearing: the danger with taking a legalistic approach to such issues is that you are forced to rely on the law as it is written, and if the law contains inherent injustices, then these will be reflected in the court's decision. That's the case here. Nothing in law prevents the U.S. Legislature from extending the terms in response to political pressure, so the court ruled (rationally) that they could. Whether it is right or wrong to extend the term is something the court couldn't - and shouldn't - consider.
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