Individual Copyrighted Works in an Unauthorized Compilation Warrant Separate Statutory Damages Awards

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a compilation that infringed copyrights in its constituent parts is not considered "one work" for purposes of 17 U.S.C. §504(c). Rather, each constituent part that infringes upon a copyright is subject to a separate statutory damages award. WB Music v. RTV Communications Group, Case No 04-3890, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 9889 (2d Cir. Apr. 19, 2006) (Walker, C.J.).

WB Music, a group of music publishers, sued RTV for making and distributing copies of seven CDs containing songs that infringed 13 of its copyrights. WWB elected to seek statutory damages under §504(c), which states that the copyright owner may elect to recover statutory damages for any one work where an infringer is individually liable or for which any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally; all parts of a compilation or derivative work constitute one work. The district court found RTV had infringed the plaintiffs’ 13 copyrights but ruled that the