Four Supreme Court Justices Recuse, Leaving No Quorum for Publishing Case
Four justices stepped aside from a copyright petition by major music publishers, preventing a Supreme Court quorum and leaving the lower-court ruling in place.
A coalition of music publishers—including BMG Rights Management (US) LLC, Capitol CMG, Essential Music Publishing and Warner-Tamerlane Publishing—sought Supreme Court review of a dispute over copyright-reversion restrictions. The Court could not achieve a quorum after Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett and Jackson recused themselves, leading it to affirm the lower-court judgment under the equal-division rule. Paul Clement represented the petitioners, backed by amicus briefs from Paramount, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America.
Justice Alito, who has publishing interests, did not recuse. In the same order, the Court granted limited certiorari in a Maryland school-admissions case, focusing on the need to demonstrate an aggregate disparate impact rather than intent. The recusals highlight procedural obstacles that may affect future media-industry cases at the high court.
Why it matters
The lack of a Supreme Court quorum means media companies may lose a key avenue for challenging lower-court rulings.
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