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U.S. Supreme Court Decides Copyright Damages-Lookback Issue But Not Discovery-of-Infringement Rule

By Robert W. Clarida and Thomas Kjellberg
June 01, 2024

In a 6-3 majority decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has resolved a copyright question that generated conflicting results in the U.S. Courts of Appeal for years. But as a forceful dissent pointed out, the court left open a more fundamental issue that could render the entire question moot.

The issue in Warner Chappell Music Inc v. Nealy, 144 S. Ct. 1135 (2024), involved the calculation of damages in copyright actions where at least some of the infringing conduct dates back more than three years before the commencement of the action. Under §507(b) of the Copyright Act, an infringement claim is timely only if it is commenced within three years after the claim "accrue[s]." Eleven of the 13 circuits have interpreted this language to permit claims to be deemed timely if they are filed within three years after the plaintiff discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the infringement of rights. This judicially created "discovery rule" has never been addressed by the Supreme Court.

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