Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Irvin Muchnick

Summary

The Supreme Court held that 17 U.S.C. § 411(a)'s copyright-registration requirement is a precondition to filing an infringement claim that does not restrict federal subject-matter jurisdiction, reversing the Second Circuit's contrary ruling that had led it to reject class certification and settlement approval as to unregistered works. Applying the Arbaugh framework, the Court found no clear congressional statement ranking the requirement as jurisdictional, noted its separation from the jurisdiction grants in 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) and its authorized exceptions, and concluded that its prior 'jurisdictional' treatment was a relevant but non-dispositive historical factor. The Court also declined to apply judicial estoppel to the publishers' shifted position and confirmed that the District Court had authority to adjudicate the settlement-approval request, while expressing no view on the settlement's merits or on sua sponte enforcement of the precondition. Justice Ginsburg, concurring in part and in the judgment, joined by Justice Stevens and Justice Breyer, agreed with the characterization but wrote separately to reconcile Arbaugh and Bowles, emphasizing that Bowles rested on the Court's own longstanding precedent rather than lower-court labeling.