In Copyright Case Over Photos, The Second Circuit Brings Four Critical Issues Into Focus

The Second Circuit's recent decision in Sohm v. Scholastic Inc., clarified four significant copyright issues.  First, the court held that where images have been licensed, the copyright owner bears the burden of proving that the licensee's use of the images was outside the scope of the license.  Second, it rejected the licensee's argument that the Supreme Court had eliminated the “discovery rule”—under which the Copyright Act's three-year statute of limitations does not start to run until the copyright owner discovers (or should have discovered) the infringement—in a 2014 decision, Petrella v. MGM.  Third, it held that the Copyright Act limits damages to the three years prior to when an infringement action is filed.  And fourth, it held that the registration of a compilation of photos by someone who holds the rights to the individual photos that make up the compilation effectively registers each of the individual photos.