Supreme Court Considers Whether Copyright Plaintiffs May Recover Damages for Infringing Acts Occurring Outside the Copyright Act's Three-Year Statute of Limitations
The Supreme Court recently heard argument in a case that stands to have significant implications for the scope of damages available in a copyright case. In Nealy v. Warner Chappel Music, Inc., the Court is asked to decide whether, under the discovery rule, a copyright plaintiff can recover damages for infringing acts that occurred outside the Copyright Act's three-year statute of limitations. The discovery rule generally measures the limitations period from when the plaintiff discovered or reasonably should have discovered its claim, whereas the injury rule measures the limitations period in a copyright case from the act of infringement. The defendant seeks reversal of the Eleventh Circuit's holding that, where a plaintiff timely commences suit under the discovery rule, the Copyright Act's three-year statute of limitations does not preclude the plaintiff from obtaining damages for acts that occurred more than three years before filing suit and before the plaintiff's discovery of its claim.
Circuit courts are split on this question based largely on diverging interpretations of the Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 572 U.S. 663 (2014). There, the Court held that...
