Sorry: Trying to Settle or Keep Costs Down in Copyright Litigation Have Become Much Harder Thanks to Sony v. Tenenbaum

The problems that Sony v. Tenenbaum will cause copyright owners, if affirmed on appeal, are many.  I touched on a few in an related post. Professor Eric Goldman in an excellent post adds a few more.  As he indicates, Tenenbaum will now prompt a due process defense to a statutory damage claim thereby making copyright litigation, already expensive, more so.

What? A Third Trial in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset on Statutory Damages in Copyright Litigation? Stay Tuned.

 
As Ben Sheffner reports in his blog, Copyright and Campaigns, the parties in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset have been unable to reach a settlement in this much litigated copyright infringement case. Therefore, a third trial (that’s not a typo) in this case will likely go forward in early November.
This case is a poster child for the uncertainty and confusion surrounding statutory damages in copyright litigation.

A Primer for Non Lawyers Explaining Statutory Damages in Copyright Litigation

 
The Association of Media Photographers recently asked me to write an article for its members explaining statutory damages in copyright litigation. I wrote the article, published in the spring 2010 ASMP Bulletin, to give copyright holders a basic understanding of what statutory damages are, how copyright holders qualify for statutory damages through registration of their copyrighted works and how courts and juries calculate these damages. If your work has been infringed and you are trying to determine the amount of statutory damages you may be entitled to, you may find the article useful.  To download the published article, click here.

Still Confused About Statutory Damages? Watch the Video Below for Some Answers

Below is the video of Andrew’s PLI talk on April 30 at the 2010 Advance Copyright Seminar. He explains when you must register with the Copyright Office to be entitled to statutory damages; the number of awards of statutory damages you may be entitled to when multiple parties infringe your work multiple times; when your infringed copyrights will qualify as “works” eligible for statutory damages and where in the range—from innocence to willfulness—infringing conduct falls and the statutory damages that may be assessed for that conduct.

Advanced Seminar on Copyright Law, April 30, 2010

Andrew spoke about statutory damages in copyright litigation at the Advanced Seminar on Copyright Law sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute in New York on April 30, 2010.
The program moderator was Richard Dannay, a partner at Cowan, Liebowtiz & Latman.
For the program and more information, click here.

Confused about Statutory Damages in Copyright Litigation? Join the Club. Here Are Some Answers (Part I)

Confused about statutory damages in copyright litigation? You are in good company.
There are limitations on the availability and amount of  statutory damages and the parties against whom statutory damages will be individually assessed, all of which create misunderstandings by parties on both sides of the fence. Copyright holders mistakenly assert they are entitled to statutory damages for an infringement that occurs after they registered their work, even when this infringement continues a pattern of infringement that began before registration.

Statutory Damages in Copyright Litigation

Article published in 81 New York State Bar Journal on p. 30 November/December, 2009. To read the full article download the PDF here, or go to the following link on the Tannenbaum Helpern website: http://tinyurl.com/y9waohu.
The article answers the following questions:
1. May the copyright holder recover statutory damages for post-registration infringing conduct that began pre-registration;
2.

Copyright Basics published in Imprints, Fall 2009

On January 8, 2009, Andrew Berger, joined by Nancy Wolff, explained to a large audience of PWP members at Pratt Institute some copyright basics. A summary of Andrew’s presentation appears below.

What are the Qualifications for Copyright?

Copyright protects “original works of authorship,” such as photographs, whether or no published. But the photograph must be fixed in a tangible medium such as on paper or on a computer’s hard drive.

Protect Your Copyrighted Works, Published in 2003 By Illustrators’ Partnership of America

Protect Yourself with These Tips
Here are some simple copyright tips to use in your business. They deal with:
a. your terms and conditions;
b. the importance of registration;
c. suggestions about registration;
d. preventing the unauthorized use of your work;
e. your copyright notice;
f. winning the battle of the forms;
g. work for hire pricing; and
h.