When Does A Copyright Claim Accrue?

Addressing the issue of copyright claim accrual for the first time in the 10th Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a district court's dismissal of a 2010 copyright suit upon the grounds that the statute of limitations had run out three years after accrual of the claim.  Copeland Cooper v. NCS Pearson, Case No. 12-1096 (10th Cir. Aug. 19, 2013) (Seymour, J.)

Copeland Cooper co-created the psychological test Battery for Health Improvement (BHI) in the 1980-90s alongside two clinical psychologists.  In 1993, her co-creators signed over their rights to the test to the corporation Battery for Health and Illness, Inc., (BHI, Inc.) started by the three test creators.  Later that year, the corporation signed over publishing rights to National Computer Systems (NCS), NCS Pearson's predecessor.  The assignments to BHI, Inc., and NCS both indicated that Copeland Cooper's co-creators exclusively owned the intellectual property rights to the BHI test.