We have previously discussed the information you can glean from reading the first page of a legal case. In part two of this installment of DIY Copyright Research we will discuss some basics on how to read the body of a case once you've found a promising one. The examples below are from this case. You may want to open it or download it if you want to follow along or take a closer look.
Reading a Case Efficiently
If you are researching an issue and come across a case you think may be useful, it can be daunting to see that it is 30+ pages long. Even if it is not that long, it can still be confusing or tedious to navigate if you are not used to reading cases.
For me, sometimes I want or need to read a case from start to finish to really get a full understanding of it. But, other times I am looking for a specific factual similarity between my issue and the issue presented in a case. So, I do not want to slog through an entire case if it does not have the same or similar fact pattern as mine. Then, there are times when I am just looking for general statements of the law on a subject and the facts don't really matter as much. In the latter two situations, reading the case from beginning to end is not the most efficient use of my researching time; I want to quickly skip through to the sections that I need to see. So, it can be helpful to know how cases are generally structured and what can be found where.
The Body of a Case
The format for the body of any case may be slightly different for each one and all of the information we will discuss here may not be present in all instances but this overview should help you identify key information when you encounter it.
Lawyers and Judge(s) - On page two of the case shown here (the Brammer case) you can find the identity of the judges who rendered the decision and a super long list of attorneys involved in the matter. Now, the judges are also shown on page one of the case but the information shown here lets you know who actually wrote the case opinion and whether, when dealing with an appeal, the other judges involved agreed with the decision. Here we see that all three judges "joined," or agreed with, the result.
This case also shows a ton of attorneys who argued and briefed the case. This list is so long because the case attracted a lot of attention and there were many organizations that wrote "friend of the court" briefs in support of the appeal. Normally, there are just a few lawyers identified in this section and some cases leave out the lawyers altogether.
Summary
Often a case opinion begins with a brief summary of the case; what type of case it is, the parties and the conclusion of the court. The highlighted section in the photo lets you know what the court decided - it reversed the decision of the district court and remanded, or sent it back for them to try again in light of its decision. If the case you are reading has a summary, it can help you quickly see the big picture and what issues the case intends to address.
Factual Background
One of the most important sections of any copyright case is the factual background. Many times, after you read through a fact section, you will have a much better idea about whether you should continue reading or not as the facts will give you a good idea of the usefulness of the case for you. This is because copyright issues are extremely fact sensitive so, generally, the more similar a case's facts are to your facts, the better the case is for supporting whatever argument or theory you are researching.
Legal Rules and Analysis
Generally speaking, after the facts have been explained, an opinion gets into the meat of the matter - stating the law and applying the facts to said law. This is where the court's reasoning is explained and its conclusions supported.
Sometimes, as here, the sections will not be labeled but the law and analysis section is simple to recognize because it will normally have lots of additional cases that may be helpful for your research. As you can see in the Brammer sample, the citations to supporting cases are in italics.
Usually, if there are several legal issues in a case, this analysis section is segmented and organized by issue. Brammer, for instance, is a case about fair use. While this is technically one issue, it has four different factors and each factor has a different legal test. So, the Brammer court separates each issue into its own section which makes for simple perusal.
Conclusions
Finally, most cases include a brief conclusion at the end of the case that states (or re-states) the decision of the court.
The Takeaway for Crafters
Although each case will look a little different, it is helpful to understand the anatomy of an opinion. This helps us be more efficient, intentional and focused when researching.
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