Mass shooting survivors turn to an unlikely place for justice – copyright law

The approach aims to avoid rewarding' assailants and prevent trauma reliving. Could it be a viable solution?

In a Nashville courtroom in early July, survivors of the 2023 Covenant school shooting celebrated an unusual legal victory. Citing copyright law, Judge l'Ashea Myles ruled that the assailant's writings and other creative property could not be released to the public.

After months of hearings, the decision came down against conservative lawmakers, journalists and advocates who had sued for access to the writings, claiming officials had no right to keep them from the public. But since parents of the assailant - who killed six people at the private Christian elementary school, including three nine-year-old children - signed legal ownership of the shooter's journals over to the families of surviving students last year, Myles said releasing the materials would violate the federal Copyright Act.