3 Nimmer on Copyright § 12.02

Summary

Courts may not issue advisory opinions. Article III of the Constitution limits relief to “concrete and particularized” injury that is “actual or imminent.”1 Accordingly, courts look to various doctrines of “constitutional standing” and “prudential standing” in copyright cases no less than in other domains.2

• [A] Indivisibility and Standing under the 1909 Act

  Under the 1909 Act, only the proprietor of a copyright had standing to sue for infringement in most cases.3