Tag Archives: discovery rule

Gorsuch’s “Dead Letter” Prophecy: Hearst v. Martinelli may Settle Copyright’s Discovery Rule following the Warner Chappell Avoidance

May 13, 2024PatentCopyright, copyright infringement, discovery rule, Gorsuch, Hearst v. Martinelli, statute of limitations, Supreme Court, Warner ChappellDennis Crouch

by Dennis Crouch

The pending Hearst v. Martinelli case may be the “dead letter” offered by Justice Gorsuch. This time, the Supreme Court might actually decide whether the “discovery rule” applies to the Copyright Act’s statute of limitations.

Supreme Court Affirms Availability of Back-Damages Under Copyright Discovery Rule

May 9, 2024PatentCopyright, Damages, discovery rule, statute of limitations, Supreme CourtDennis Crouch

By Dennis Crouch and Timothy Knight

On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, No. 22-1078, 601 U.S. ___ (2024), resolving a circuit split over the availability of back-damages in copyright infringement cases. In a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Kagan, the Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling, permitting recovery of damages for acts that occurred more than three years before the filing of the lawsuit under the “discovery accrual rule.”

For those of you who have not been following the case, the Plaintiff Sherman Nealy, a music producer, helped create musical works in the 1980s with his collaborator, Tony Butler. Nealy was incarcerated from 1989 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2015 (more…)