SCOTUS Pick Jackson Has ‘Acumen’ to Be IP ‘Thought Leader’: AHRA Lawyer

Lawyers on opposing sides of the July 2014 Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) copyright case presided over by then-U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in D.C. were effusive in their praise of Jackson's qualifications as President Joe Biden's nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (see Ref:2202280001]). Jackson "was presented with a case applying an arcane, little-used statute involving 1990s digital audio recording technology to modern in-vehicle infotainment systems,” emailed copyright attorney Seth Greenstein of Constantine Cannon. Yet she “mastered the intricacies of both the statute and the technology" in rendering a decision, he said Monday. Jackson's decisions in the case "were principled and clear, and unsurprisingly were affirmed unanimously by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals," said Greenstein. "I have every confidence she has the acumen and policy proficiency to succeed her former boss, Justice Breyer, as the Court’s thought leader on copyright, technology, and intellectual property.” Though Rick Dagen of Axinn Veltrop was lead AHRA attorney in a losing cause for the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, he thinks Jackson will be an "incredible" Supreme Court justice, he emailed Tuesday.