Implied limits on the legislative power: The intellectual property clause as an absolute constraint on congress

Professors Heald and Sherry, argue that the language of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, the Intellectual Property Clause, absolutely constraints Congr ess's legislative power under certain circumstances. Their analysis begins by looking at other limits on the legislative power that the Court has foun d in the Bankruptcy Clause, the Eleventh Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, an d Article III. Then by examining the history and structure of the Intellect ual Property Clause and relevant precedent, they distill four principles of constitution weight - the Suspect Grant Principle, the Quid Pro Quo Princi ple; the Authorship Principle, and the Public Domain Principle. These princ iples inform the Court's jurisprudence in cases involving the Intellectual Property Clause, acting as implied and absolute limits on Congress's exerci se of its legislative power. Finally, Professors Heald and Sherry apply the se principles to recent pieces of legislation and evaluate these constituti onality of several proposed and recently enacted laws.