In an attempt to overturn the latest appellate decision, Jerry Greenberg has once again petitioned the Supreme Court in his long-running battle with the National Geographic Society, which reused his copyrighted images without compensation in its CD-ROM compilation, The Complete National Geographic: 108 Years of National Geographic Magazine. His suit was first filed in 1997.
Greenberg believes the recent decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has made void many of the protections afforded creators in the 1976 Copyright Act. He has asked the Superior Court to issue a writ of certiorari to lower body. If at least three members of the Superior Court believe the case involves a sufficiently significant federal question in the public interest, the court may decide to hear the case.
The Supreme Court receives approximately 3,000 such requests a year. It hears between 75 and 85.