From our country’s beginning, the Founders recognized that American democracy would rely upon a flourishing independent press. The Constitution protects a free press through the First Amendment, of course, but also through a less celebrated provision: its recognition of the need for copyrights. Copyright gives creators the economic incentive to develop and disseminate their ideas, and the authors of the Constitution intended copyright, the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor explained, to be “an engine of free expression” that would power an independent press.

But that engine is now in jeopardy. AI companies are routinely stealing copyrighted content with impunity. The courts should seize the opportunity before them to put a stop to this abuse and reaffirm the Founders’ intentions.