Important Development From the Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the objectors to file a response to the defendants' petition for certiorari. The deadline for our brief is October 20. As a result, the Court's conference to consider whether to accept the appeal has been set for November 29, rather than September 29.
To review: Both the plaintiffs and the defendants petitioned the High Court to overturn the ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (which threw out the copyright class action settlement on the grounds that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over settlements including unregistered works). The objectors agree with the settlement parties on this point: unregistereds should have standing in the courts for settlement purposes.
In August we had informed the Supreme Court that we were waiving our right to respond to the parties' petitions. We never said we agreed with what the defendants and the plaintiffs had said to the court, chapter and verse; we just chose not to file a response.
But now the justices, in their wisdom, have decided that they do want to hear from us.
To review: Both the plaintiffs and the defendants petitioned the High Court to overturn the ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (which threw out the copyright class action settlement on the grounds that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over settlements including unregistered works). The objectors agree with the settlement parties on this point: unregistereds should have standing in the courts for settlement purposes.
In August we had informed the Supreme Court that we were waiving our right to respond to the parties' petitions. We never said we agreed with what the defendants and the plaintiffs had said to the court, chapter and verse; we just chose not to file a response.
But now the justices, in their wisdom, have decided that they do want to hear from us.
posted by Irv Muchnick at 5:10 PM
2 Comments:
Irv, there seems to be something wrong with your update. I don't think November 29 is a new date for the conference, since this year November 29 is the Saturday after Thanksgiving; it's very unlikely that the Supremes would be in session on that day. There is indeed a November 29 listed as "decision date" on the docket, but that refers to the date the appeals court made its ruling:
November 29, 2007.
The docket still lists our conference as being on 9/29, but that does seem odd since the court has now asked your your input, with an October due date. Perhaps they just don't have a new date for the conference yet.
You may very well be right -- I'll check this out and clarify accordingly. Thanks for pointing this out. Regardless, it does seem clear that September 29 is no longer the date on which the justices will confer about whether to hear the appeal.
Irv
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