On October 9, 2002 the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the case of Eldred vs. Ashcroft. The paper
shows that the fundamental issue in this case is whether Congress, which has constitutional
authority to issue copyrights and patents "for limited times" to "promote the progress of science and the useful arts",
overstepped its constitutional authority by passing the Act. The previous Copyright Act, passed in 1978, protected copyright author's work for only 50 years after the person dies. The controversy behind the case at bar is that the Bono Act extends this copyright term by 20 years. The paper shows therefore that the Supreme Court must decide whether Congress overstepped its bounds in extending the copyright term of authors from 50 years from their death to 70 years from that time.