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ARTICLE · 31 OCTOBER 2011

Two Courts Address Constitutional Limits On Copyright Statutory Damages

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In two high-profile cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and a district court in Minnesota recently addressed the constitutional limits on statutory damage awards under the Copyright Act.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Kevin Littman
Kevin Littman
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In two high-profile cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and a district court in Minnesota recently addressed the constitutional limits on statutory damage awards under the Copyright Act. Both cases involved illegal downloading of music by individuals that resulted in juries awarding extraordinarily large statutory damages — $675,000 in one case and $1.5 million in the other. The two cases provide guidance on the procedures for addressing arguably excessive jury awards in copyright cases and what courts may view as the maximum statutory damages permitted under the U.S. Constitution.

The Copyright Act provides for statutory damages ranging from $750 to $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed. See 17 U.S.C. § 504(c). Because statutory damages are awarded on a per-work basis, cases involving large numbers of infringed works can sometimes result in total damage awards far greater than $150,000.

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