Copyright Damages Can Extend Beyond 3 Years

For many years, practitioners have assumed that a plaintiff's damages in a copyright infringement action are limited to damages that accrued within three years of the filing of the lawsuit. This understanding was based on a general interpretation of Section 507(b) of the Copyright Act, which sets a three-year statute of limitations. That is no longer a correct assumption.

Today, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, holding that a plaintiff is entitled to recover damages for any timely infringement claim, regardless of whether the acts of infringement occurred within three years of filing. In other words, so long as the claim is timely filed, the successful plaintiff can recover damages, such as the infringer's profits, going back well beyond three years. In fact, the Supreme Court said there is no time limit: