You already supplied the context, so I thought I'd put the quote in there with it. It's hard for me to say that common law was not invented by the courts, give

You already supplied the context, so I thought I'd put the quote in there with it. It's hard for me to say that common law was not invented by the courts, given that it derives from a lot of old court decisions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law Though it's fair to point out that congress did enact laws to codify the parts of it we wanted. That said, one of the few surviving bits is copyright-related (the "hot news" doctrine): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#United_States_federal_system_.281789_and_1938.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law#United_States_federa... In fact, I dare say that copyright law is one place the courts like to make up new stuff. See, e.g., Capitol Records, Inc. v Naxos of America Inc. http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20050412225604578 http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20050412225604...