Journal Home Browse Issues Search Articles Submissions About the Journal Copyright Fixation Podcast Subscribe Go back to Issues WHO'S AFRAID OF THE COMMON LAW? GEORGIA V. PUBLIC.RESOURCE.ORG AND THE SUPREME COURT'S RECENT "STRAIGHTFORWARD" COPYRIGHT JURISPRUDENCE Citation: 67 J. COPYRIGHT SOC’Y, 397, (2020) Joseph P. Liu Boston College Law School Abstract In Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, the U.S. Supreme Court held that no copyright existed in statutory annotations authored by the State of Georgia and incorporated into the official Georgia state code. Although the result has much to recommend it, the Court reached it in profoundly unsatisfying fashion. In this Article, I argue that the Court’s approachfails to capture, or indeed grapple with, the compelling policy reasons for finding the annotations unprotected, and that this failure is the direct result of a fundamental misunderstanding about the judicial role in copyright cases. Specifically, the Court fails to recognize that, in many areas, the Copyright Act is not a source of definitive answers, but a delegation of authority to find the answers, and that a refusal to fully exercise this authority is not laudable deference to legislative supremacy, but an abdication of judicial responsibility. More broadly, the Court’s decision exemplifies its recent copyright jurisprudence, one characterized by appeals to legislative authority, a reluctance to engage with policy, a curious flattening of complexity, and a misguided desire to find “straightforward” rules where none exist. Full Article jocoso67sm-3 Who's Afraid of the Common Law?Download Related Content Journal May 1, 2026 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR COPYRIGHT LAW TO CATCH UP WITH TECHNOLOGY? SOME DATA POINTS FROM THE MUSIC INDUSTRY 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 213Download Bill Rosenblatt, Howie Singer Creativity & Technology Collide Creativity, Culture & the Arts Music, Musicals & Performing Arts Technology, Innovation & the Future Journal May 1, 2026 TRAINING ON TRIAL: INSIGHTS FROM BARTZ AND KADREY 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 261 (2026)Download Barbara Bruni AI & Copyright Journal May 1, 2026 THE UNEASY NEW (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) RELATIONSHIPS: TECH, PUBLISHERS, AND AUTHORS IN ACADEMIC PUBLISHING 73 J. Copyright Soc'y 299 (2026)Download Agnes Gambill West AI & Copyright Keeping Up With Copyright Preservation, Archives & Memory