* Star Athletica LLC v. Varsity Brands Inc., 137 S. Ct. 1002 (2017)

* DC Comics v. Towle, 802 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. 2015)

* Golan v. Holder, 565 U.S. 302 (2012)

One of the most important cases for contemporary copyright law was Feist Publications, Inc., v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 499 U.S. 340 (1991). It was a nominal a win for the defendant, but in fact the opinion set a very low bar and effectively condemned the types of bright-line subject matter exclusions that a robust merger doctrine demands, such as in Baker v. Selden.

IIRC, Alex Kozinski wrote some opinions that best reflect the majority perspective today, but I can't find any good citations right now. His arguments are persuasive, but sort of miss the point. Baker v. Selder and the merger doctrine are classic common law solutions to statutory rights that breed complex litigation and inhibit competition. They're not supposed to be intellectually pure or rigorous defenses of legislative powers. Quite the opposite. But courts are far more conservative today and not inclined to exercise their judicial powers this way, with the notable exception of the First Amendment. In fact, certain First Amendment defenses to infringement are slowly becoming more viable, where once upon a time they were dismissed out of hand.