Trump's Judge Nominations Will Be Record Setting & Likely To Affect Copyright Law
President Donald Trump's appointment of Neil Gorsuch received a lot of attention from the media. However, President Trump has the potential to set a record for nominating the most lifetime appointed federal judges to the bench.
With newly confirm Neil Gorsuch on the bench, United States Supreme Court will rule on less than 100 cases each year. This is quite a bit smaller in comparison with the lower federal courts who hear over 400,000 cases each year.
Nearly 125 judicial spots on the federal bench are open which accounts to 14% of all judicial seats (874) in the federal courts. The dozens of vacancies has the potential to grow when you consider that more than half of all judges can retire or take part-time roles within Trump's administration.
While in control of the house and senate, the Democrats did away with the rule requiring 60 votes to secure a nominee, making it much more likely Trump will exceed the influence previous Presidents had over the federal bench.
Special attention towards copyright and trademark is certainly worth making. The Supreme Court recently ruled in upholding a copyright infringement on the basis of fashion copyrights in the case of Star Athletica, LLC v Varsity Brands, Inc. This decision trails the lawsuit brought against Ivanka Trump for allegedly copying shoe designs. Both President Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump have clothing lines and fashion designs that could benefit from the new bench composites.
Throw into the mix Trump's authority over additional regulatory offices, his influence can reshape the court and administrative procedures and policies for many years to come.
Author Leighton G. Linning is an Entertainment attorney in Nashville, TN. His practice includes copyright, trademark, business and family law. He can be reached at Leighton@covenantlawgroup.net.
