The Supreme Court gave its blessing Wednesday to a federal law giving copyright protection to millions of international books, music and other artistic creations that had once been in the free-access "public domain." The 6-2 ruling is a setback for a coalition of groups that had sought to keep works by foreign artists easily available in the United States without payment of royalties. At issue was whether the Constitution's "Progress Clause" prohibited Congress from taking such works out of the public domain. A group of artists, film archivists, and educators sued after an international treaty signed by the United States restored copyright protection to thousands of once-royalty-free works originating in other countries. The plaintiffs made a free-speech argument, claiming the ruling would create an artistic vacuum, making a large body of songs and films out of their reach, if they had to pay fees. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, downplayed such concerns. "Neither congressional practice nor our decisions treat the public domain, in any and all cases, as untouchable by copyright legislation," she said. Provisions in the law do "not unconstitutionally abridge speech." The plaintiffs were supported by the ACLU, Internet website giants like Google, and library groups. The big winners in the dispute are larger media and publishing companies, which hope this high court decision will now lead to greater reciprocal access to foreign markets for American books, music, films, television and other creative endeavors. Among the works in question were Pablo Picasso and M.C. Escher artwork, novels by Virginia Woolf and J.R.R. Tolkien, and music by Sergei Prokofiev, composer of "Peter and the Wolf"-- which is frequently performed in community orchestras. One of the original key plaintiffs was American musician Richard Kapp. He had created derivative recordings based on several compositions of the classic Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, but was later prevented from releasing them. Kapp died in 2006. "Libraries and digital repositories are using new technologies to make our cultural commons more accessible than ever, but they need a robust and stable public domain to be able to do that crucial work," said Julie Samuels, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed a brief supporting Kapp and others. The federal provision "has up-ended a basic tenet of copyright law: once a work enters the public domain, it stays in the public domain." The 1994 law in question was designed to put the United States in compliance with global treaties on intellectual property-- the Berne Convention and the so-called Uruguay Round. The federal legislation created copyrights to foreign works that had not previously been covered. The U.S. Copyright Office told the high court that millions of works would now receive copyright restoration. Public domain works can be freely reproduced, performed, downloaded and shared. "Congress determined that U.S. interests were best served by our full participation in the dominant system of international copyright protection," said Ginsburg. Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito dissented. "The (federal) statute has significant First Amendment costs," wrote Breyer. "... By withdrawing material from the public domain, the statute inhibits an important preexisting flow of information." Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the case. She recused herself after earlier being involved in defending the law while serving as solicitor general in the Justice Department just before joining the high court in 2010. The case is Golan v. Holder (10-545).

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The ruling means royalties will have to be paid for some foreign works. A coalition of groups had sued to keep the works in the free-access "public domain" At issue are Pablo Picasso works, novels by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Friends of an Australian man believed to be fighting with terror group Islamic State have paid tribute to Zia Abdul-Haq who they say has been killed on the battlefield. Abdul-Haq - who is also known as Abu Yusseph - lived in Logan, south of Brisbane in Queensland, before he travelled to Syria in August to fight alongside other IS militants, leaving behind his former wife and child. The man was prolific on social media - including Twitter - and his account was filled with content that made light of the terror group's sinister reputation. Scroll down for video. A fellow militant who is thought to have fought alongside Zia Abdul-Haq has confirmed the Logan man is dead. The Australian is thought to have made his way to Syria in August. Friends back home say he was looking for a new wife. A fellow militant who is thought to have fought alongside Abdul-Haq confirmed his death on October 3, but friends did not learn of his death until Monday. He paid tribute to the Australian by uploading a photo of Abdul-Haq sitting with his legs crossed in front of him looking at his mobile phone, and then went on to say he had seen his body. On a Twitter account linked to Wisam Haddad - the man behind the controversial Al-Risalah Islamic Centre in Sydney which closed its doors last month - tributes starting flowing for Abdul-Haq, The Australian reported. Calling him a 'shaheed', Dr Haddad described his friend as a 'beautiful brother' who was 'always smiling'. 'Shaheed' means 'martyr' in Arabic. Wisam Haddad - the man behind the controversial Al-Risalah Islamic Centre in Sydney which closed its doors last month - paid tribute to Abdul-Haq with this post. Dr Haddad also asked 'Allah to accept him' and wrote 'Allahu Akbar' in capitals, which means 'God is the greatest'. Later he posted a meme-style photo of Abdul-Haq with a weapon behind him superimposed on a blue background with the words: 'Abu Yosouf Al Khura­sani May Allah Accept Him (Martyred on the day of Arafah).' The Day of Arafah is a holy day in the Islamic faith and is part of the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca. These words were accompanied by a translated passage from the Qur'an, which read: 'And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their lord (sic), receiving provision'. Abdul-Haq has been described as a 'beautiful brother' who was 'always smiling' Other Twitter users also paid tribute to the Logan man who fled to Syria in August. Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Australian Federal Police for comment on this matter. In the past, Abdul-Zaq has used his Twitter account to showcase what life was like fighting for IS in the Middle East. He posted a series of videos on YouTube with titles such as 'funny terrorist video part 1' - as well as Twitter images of militants cuddling cats, playing video games and training with assault weaponry. The Logan man - who friends back home say he travelled to Syria to find a wife - has also tweeted that he was 'proud to be part of #IslamicState' and denied claims he was 'brainwashed' by Australian preacher Musa Cerantonio who was arrested in the Philippines and then deported back to Australian in July. A couple of weeks later following Cerantonio's deportation, Abdul-Haq posted an image of fighters in the Middle East watching a video of the preacher. 'Mujahideen (warriors) in Ash-Shaam watching Musa Cerantonio's talks #IS #ISIS #jihadist #caliphate #Khilafah,' Abdul-Haq wrote.

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Zia Abdul-Haq - also known as Abu Yusseph - died in Syria on October 3. Friends of the Australian believed to be part of the terror group paid tribute to him. He was described as a 'beautiful brother' who was 'always smiling' Abdul-Haq was prolific on social media for making light the Islamic State's sinister reputation. The Logan man fled Australia in August, with friends saying he was in Syria to find a new wife.