Three Is (Not) A Magic Number: Damages Under The Discovery Rule

On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court held that under the Copyright Act, there is no time limit on monetary recovery for a timely filed claim. In Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, 601 U.S. _____ (2024), the Supreme Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit's holding that a plaintiff with a timely claim under the discovery rule may obtain "retrospective relief for [an] infringement" even if it "occurr[ed] more than three years before the lawsuit's filing." Nealy v. Warner Chappell Music, Inc., 60 F.4th 1325, 1331 (11th Cir. 2023). However, this decision—as framed by Justice Gorsuch—leaves outstanding the question of whether the Copyright Act authorizes the discovery rule.

Under the Copyright Act, a plaintiff must file suit "within three years after the claim occurred." 17 U.S.C. §507(b). There are two different understandings of this three-year statutory limitation: the first is that a copyright claim "accrue[s]" when "an infringing act occurs;" the alternative