U.S. Supreme Court Approves Unlimited Retroactive Period for Copyright Damages Without Addressing Underlying Knowledge Based Limitations Standard

Herrick counsel, Barry Werbin, authored an article for the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal about the Supreme Court decision in Warner Chappell Music Inc. et al. v. Nealy. This ruling held that damages for copyright infringement can extend back beyond three years from the date an action is filed if the action is otherwise timely brought. While this provides some clarity, the Court did not address the validity of the underlying "discovery rule" for statute of limitations purposes and chose to delay some assessment until a future case arises.  

Barry notes, "We now have certainty as to the reach-back period for money damages and profits in infringement actions that otherwise are timely filed, thus putting to rest a thorny circuit split." 

Read the full article in the Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal here.