Miranda Stovall v. Jefferson County Board of Education, dba Jefferson County Public Schools, et al.

Respondent Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) relied on federal copyright law, and federal copyright law alone, to reject Petitioner Miranda Stovall’s Kentucky Open Records Act request for a copy of a survey it administered to her child. JCPS claimed that giving Mrs. Stovall a copy of the survey would violate Respondent NCS Pearson, Inc.’s copyright. However, under the Copyright Act, giving her that copy is a fair use, not copyright infringement. See 17 U.S.C. § 107. This situation has arisen in other states. Plaintiffs have sued for access to documents withheld due to copyright under open records acts in state courts, including in Missouri, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. State courts in these four refused to decide whether the proposed copying was a fair use, citing federal courts’ exclusive jurisdiction over copyright questions. See 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a). So, Mrs. Stovall did the logical thing: she sued in federal court, in the Western District of Kentucky. The court held it lacked jurisdiction to answer her question. App.22a. She appealed, and the Sixth Circuit upheld the district court, holding that a state court can (and a federal court cannot) answer her question. App.8a–9a. The Question Presented Is: Whether federal courts must, or state courts may, decide whether it is a fair use, under the Copyright Act, to request and obtain a copyrighted document under state open records law.