Download Understanding Damages and Profits in Copyright Infringement Cases and more Slides Law in PDF only on Docsity! Wrap-up: Civil Remedies • Injunctions (preliminary, permanent) • Damages (actual damages, profits, statutory damages) • Impounding and destruction • Costs and attorney’s fees • Last time, we did not get to the issue of calculation of actual damages and profits Docsity.com ACTUAL DAMAGES/PROFITS (s. 504) • Copyright owners can recover “actual damages and any additional profits that are attributable to the infringement” (with no double recovery) – see 504(b) • Note that there are often disputes about how to calculate actual damages and profits. • What are actual damages? Docsity.com INFRINGER’S PROFITS • Prevailing P can recover infringer’s profits if attributable to infringement • Plaintiff is only required to prove D’s sales that are reasonably related to the infringement (gross revenues) • Burden then shifts to D to prove elements of costs to be deducted from sales in arriving at profit as well as elements of profit attributable to other factors than the copyrighted work. • Doubt about computing costs/profits should be resolved in P’s favor. Docsity.com FRANK MUSIC: 9th Cir. 1989 CB p. 721 -APPORTIONMENT • Had defendant met its burden in proving element of costs to be deducted from sales in arriving at profit? • Infringing conduct was only a portion of a product sold by the D – how should you apportion profits? • Can a copyright proprietor recover “indirect profits”? • According to the appeals court, was the district court correct in declining to award prejudgment interest? Docsity.com HAMIL AMERICA (2d Cir. 1999) – CB p. 724 • This case is about determining what are deductible expenses – are general overhead expenses deductible from gross revenue? • Also states the rule against double recovery Docsity.com FILING TOO EARLY • Registration is a prerequisite for infringement lawsuit– authority? • It may take many months for the Copyright Office to issue a certificate of registration. Can the copyright owner bring an infringement action before the Copyright Office issues a registration certificate? Is the statutory language clear? See Gerig v. Krause Publications, Inc. (D. Kan. 1999) – CB p. 686 • What if the Copyright Office denies registration? Docsity.com FILING TOO LATE • See s. 507 – statute of limitations (civil, criminal) • When does a claim “accrue”? See Roley v. New World Pictures (9th Cir. 1994) -NCB p. 559). Does the copyright act permit infringement actions when a series of infringeming acts constitutes a “continuing wrong”? Docsity.com PROPER PLAINTIFF: STANDING • What does s. 501(b) provide? • Who is a legal owner? • What is a beneficial owner? • See Eden Toys (2d Cir. 1983) - does Eden Toys have standing to sue for infringement of Paddington bear character? • When is a declaratory judgment action permissible in a copyright infringement dispute? See Bryan Ashley Int’l v. Shelby Williams, (S.D. Fla. 1996) – CB p. 695 Docsity.com Chavez v. Arte Publico (5th Cir. 2000) • Supreme Court has not addressed the authorization for suits against states found in s. 501(a) and 511, this Fifth Circuit opinion uses the Court’s decisions in the patent and trademark context to determine that suits for money damages against the state are not permissible. Docsity.com JURY TRIAL • Seventh Amendment – preserves right to jury trial that existed at common law • In a copyright infringement case, if there is only a request for injunctive or other equitable relief, there is no right to a jury trial • Is there a right to jury trial where the remedy sought is statutory damages? Feltner (1998) • When would it be beneficial to have a jury trial in a copyright infringement case? Docsity.com
