The federal Copyright Act includes a three-year statute-of-limitations on copyright infringement civil actions that began to expire when the plaintiff’s infringement “claim” first “accrued.” See 17 U. S. C. §507(b). In Warner Chappell Music v. Neely, decided on May 9, 2024, the Court ruled that a private plaintiff could recover damages for a copyright infringement that occurred more than three years before he or she filed suit. The Court conditioned that opportunity on the plaintiff’s filing of his or her lawsuit within three years of the date he or she discovered the infringement, or reasonably should have discovered it. That condition is called the “discovery” rule. The Court, however, refused to decide if that “discovery” rule should even be applied to the Copyright Act’s statute-of-limitations. The Court declared that that remains an open legal question. The vote in the Court was 6-3, with Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch dissenting. The dissenters argued that the Court should not have accepted jurisdiction over the case in the first place, because of the uncertain outcome of the preliminary issue regarding the applicability of the “discovery” rule to the Copyright Act’s statute-of-limitations.
COMMENT: The Court should have either refused to hear this case, or else it should have decided whether the “discovery” rule applied. In its present form, the Court’s Opinion is an abstract discussion of legal theory, beyond the jurisdiction of the Court. The Court’s decision has the effect of “law” only in those limited geographic areas of the country where the lower courts have already expressed their belief, which is far from being unanimous among federal judges, that the “discovery” rule applies.
Dan Rhea
RECENT RULINGS 