In August 2019, the National Press Photographers Association and the American Society of Media Photographers filed an amicus brief in support of Jim Olive in University of Houston System vs. Jim Olive Photography, D/B/A Photolive, Inc. The brief was joined by the North American Nature Photography Association,
Graphic Artists Guild, American Photographic Artists, and
Professional Photographers of America. "The case began when Texas photographer Jim Olive discovered that the University of Houston was using one of his aerial photographs for marketing purposes without permission. When Olive asked the University to pay for the use, they refused and told him they were shielded from suit because of sovereign immunity, which protects state government entities from many lawsuits." After a negative ruling from a Texas appellate court Olive hopes to continue his fight. In 2019, the
Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in
Allen v. Cooper, raising the question of whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act in providing remedies for authors of original expression whose federal copyrights are infringed by states. Thirteen amici including; the
United States Chamber of Commerce, the
Recording Industry Association of America, the
Copyright Alliance, the
Software and Information Industry Association, the North American Nature Photography Association and the National Press Photographers Association, filed briefs in support of Allen. Those briefs proposed various doctrines under which the CRCA could validly abrogate sovereign immunity and variously re-asserted and supported the reasons why Congress examined and enacted CRCA, claiming that Congress was fair in finding that states had abused immunity and that an alternative remedy was needed. On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court struck down the CRCA as unconstitutional, holding that Congress had no Constitutional authority to abrogate state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act. Congress failed to provide evidence to support the need to abrogate sovereign immunity. ==References==