Association of American Medical Colleges v. Cuomo
| Decision Date | 12 March 1991 |
| Docket Number | 690,D,Nos. 595,s. 595 |
| Citation | 928 F.2d 519 |
| Parties | 1991 Copr.L.Dec. P 26,701, 66 Ed. Law Rep. 581, 18 U.S.P.Q.2d 1106 ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL COLLEGES, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. Mario CUOMO, Ind., and as Governor of the State of New York; Theodore M. Black, Ind., and as Chancellor, Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York; Willard A. Genrich, Ind., and as Vice Chancellor, Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York; Kenneth B. Clark, Harold E. Newcomb, Emlyn I. Griffith, Mary Alice Kendall, Jorge L. Batista, Louis E. Yavner, Laura Bradley Chodos, Martin C. Barell, Joseph R. Bongiorno, Louise P. Matteoni, J. Edward Meyer, Arlene B. Reed-Delaney, R. Carlos Carballada, Ind., and as Members of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, Gordon M. Ambach, Ind., and as Commissioner of Education, the University of the State of New York, and Robert Abrams, Ind., and as Attorney General, Defendants-Appellants, Cross-Appellees. ockets 90-7269, 90-7309. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Robert A. Burgoyne, Washington, D.C. (Carl W. Vogt, Fulbright & Jaworski, Washington, D.C.; Joseph A. Keyes, Jr., Ass'n of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C.; Carroll J. Mealey, Christopher Massaroni, DeGraff, Foy, Conway, Holt-Harris & Mealey, Albany, N.Y., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant.
Daniel Smirlock, Asst. Atty. Gen., Albany, N.Y. , for defendants-appellants, cross-appellees.
Bruce P. Keller, New York City (Lorin L. Reisner, Debevoise & Plimpton, New York City, Alan B. Morrison, David C. Vladeck, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Washington, D.C., of counsel), for amici curiae National Center for Fair & Open Testing, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Center for Women Policy Studies, Arthur O. Eve, Fund for the Feminist Majority, Golden Rule Ins. Co., Mexican American Legal Defense and Educ. Fund, National Educ. Ass'n, National Women's Law Center, New York Public Interest Research Group, and NOW Legal Defense and Educ. Fund.
David M. White, Berkeley, Cal., for amici curiae Testing for the Public, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Educ. Fund, U.S. Students Ass'n, and Equality in Testing Project.
Edward W. Keane, New York City (Henry Christensen III, David G. Feher, Sullivan & Cromwell, New York City, of counsel), for amicus curiae College Entrance Examination Bd.
Before ALTIMARI and MAHONEY, Circuit Judges, and DALY, District Judge. *
The central question presented by this appeal is whether the district court erred in holding that the disclosure requirements of New York's Standardized Testing Act, N.Y.Educ.L. Sec. 340 et seq. (McKinney 1988) ("STA"), are pre-empted by the federal Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq. (1988) ("Copyright Act"). Defendants-appellants, cross-appellees Mario Cuomo et al. (the "State") appeal from a judgment, entered in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Neil P. McCurn, Chief Judge ), granting plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant American Association of Medical Colleges' ("AAMC") motion for summary judgment and enjoining the State from enforcing various provisions of the STA against AAMC. Association of American Medical Colleges v. Carey, 728 F.Supp. 873 (N.D.N.Y.1990) ("AAMC II ").
In 1979, AAMC initiated this action for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the STA operates to infringe its federal copyright in the test forms, questions, answers, and reports prepared in connection with the administration of the Medical College Admission Test ("MCAT"). It further alleged that, as a result of the conflict between the STA and the Copyright Act, the former was preempted pursuant to the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, U.S. Const., art. VI, cl. 2. The State responded that the STA's treatment of the MCAT constitutes a "fair use" under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Sec. 107 (1988), and, therefore, that the STA was not preempted.
On October 25, 1988, after nearly ten years of litigation, AAMC moved for summary judgment on its complaint. The State opposed this motion and cross-moved for dismissal of AAMC's pendent claims based on the New York State Constitution. On January 12, 1990, the district court granted AAMC's motion for summary judgment and enjoined enforcement of certain STA provisions which it found to conflict with the Copyright Act. The court also granted the State's motion to dismiss AAMC's pendent state constitutional claims and denied AAMC's request for attorney's fees.
On appeal, the State contends that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of AAMC. It argues that genuine issues of material fact exist, particularly with regard to the effect of the STA's disclosure provisions on the copyrighted material's market value. The State also contends that the scope of the court's injunction is overly broad, even if the Copyright Act is deemed to preempt some STA provisions. AAMC, in its cross-appeal, argues that the court improperly denied its request for attorney's fees under section 505 of the Copyright Act. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse the judgment of the district court, vacate the permanent injunction, and remand for further proceedings.
AAMC is a non-profit educational association comprised of medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies. It sponsors a testing program for medical school applicants which is designed to provide medical school admissions committees with a uniform standard for measuring aptitude. The central feature of this program is the MCAT, a test developed at AAMC's request by the American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences ("AIR"). The exam consists of some 300 questions and is designed to measure a test-taker's knowledge of chemistry, biology, and physics, as well as his or her reading and quantitative skills. Virtually every medical school in the United States requires applicants to take the MCAT.
The AAMC holds copyrights in MCAT test forms, test questions, answer sheets, and reports. It has never made the MCAT or test answers available to the general public. AAMC does, however, make one "practice test"--a previously-used test that was compromised through unauthorized disclosure--available to interested applicants. After the exams are graded, AAMC sends examinees only their MCAT scores and does not permit them access to test questions or answer keys.
In 1979, the State of New York enacted the STA in order to open the standardized testing process to public scrutiny. In its present form, the STA provides that "[w]henever any test agency prepares or causes to have prepared research which is used in any study, evaluation or statistical report pertaining to a test ..., such study, evaluation or report shall be filed with" the Commissioner of Education. N.Y.Educ.L. Sec. 341. Test agencies also must prepare and file reports analyzing test scores according to race, ethnicity, gender and linguistic background for tests given between July 1, 1988 and July 1, 1989. N.Y.Educ.L. Sec. 341-a. In addition, "[w]ithin thirty days after the results of any standardized test are released," a test agency must file "a copy of all test questions used in calculating the test subject's raw score" and "the corresponding acceptable answers to those questions" with the Commissioner of Education. N.Y.Educ.L. Sec. 342(1). These reports, test questions, and test answers are designated "public records," N.Y.Educ.L. Secs. 341, 342(7), subjecting them to public inspection upon request under the New York Freedom of Information Law, N.Y.Pub.Off.L. Sec. 84 et seq. (McKinney 1988). Finally, the STA requires that, after the test has been filed with the Commissioner, the test agency must "provide to the test subject the opportunity to secure" test questions and answers, and "may charge a nominal fee for providing such information." N.Y.Educ.L. Sec. 342(2).
Following enactment of the STA, AAMC commenced an action for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the STA facilitates infringement of its copyrights in MCAT forms, questions, answers, and reports. AAMC contended that, as a result, the STA is preempted by the federal Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Sec. 101 et seq. In January 1980, finding AAMC to have satisfied the prerequisites to obtain preliminary injunctive relief, the district court granted AAMC's motion for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of sections 341 and 342 of the STA. Association of American Medical Colleges v. Carey, 482 F.Supp. 1358 (N.D.N.Y.1980) ("AAMC I "). Following a lengthy period of discovery, AAMC amended its complaint to allege, inter alia, that sections 341, 341-a, and 342 of the STA are preempted by the federal Copyright Act. In addition, AAMC alleged that the STA's provisions infringed its copyright, in violation of 17 U.S.C. Sec. 501(a) (1988), and constituted a seizure of its exclusive rights, in violation of 17 U.S.C. Sec. 201(e) (1988). AAMC also alleged that the STA violated several provisions of the New York and federal constitutions.
AAMC moved for summary judgment in October 1988. The State opposed the motion and cross-moved for dismissal of AAMC's pendent state constitutional claims. On January 12, 1990, the district court granted AAMC's motion for summary judgment and the State's motion to dismiss the pendent claims. AAMC II, 728 F.Supp. at 889. The court found that the STA's requirement that AAMC disclose its test materials conflicts with the copyright protection due those materials under the federal Copyright Act. It further found that this disclosure does not constitute a "fair use" of the MCAT under the Copyright Act. Accordingly, it concluded that the STA is preempted by the Copyright...
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