Seventh Circuit Suggests New Standard For Awarding Attorney Fees In Copyright Cases
December, 2002
In Gonzales v. Transfer Technologies, Inc., 301 F.3d 608 (7th Cir. 2002), the Seventh Circuit attempts to make it more affordable for copyright owners to police and enforce their rights. Because of the relatively small monetary awards in copyright infringement cases, it is generally cost prohibitive for owners to pursue alleged infringers. The Court addresses this reality by suggesting a new standard, whereby a prevailing party in a copyright case involving minor monetary damages should have a presumptive entitlement to an award of attorneys’ fees.
Facts
Plaintiff owns copyrights on several designs intended to be imprinted on T-shirts. Without obtaining a license from him, defendant produced and sold temporary tattoos that copy plaintiff’s designs, infringing four of his copyrights. When plaintiff discovered the infringements he sued defendant, who then promptly stopped producing and selling the infringing tattoos. The district court granted plaintiff the minimum statutory damages of $3,000.00, but denied plaintiff his attorneys’ fees because defendant’s behavior was not so “flagrant” as to justify such an award.
Analysis
The Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s ruling. While it acknowledged that the district court enjoyed wide discretion, it reasoned willful infringement involving small amounts of money cannot be adequately deterred without an award of attorneys’ fees. “No one can prosecute a copyright suit for $3,000. The effect of the district court’s decision if universalized would be to allow minor infringements, though willful, to be committed with impunity, to be in effect privileged, immune from legal address.” Accordingly, the Court ordered the district court to reassess whether plaintiff should be awarded his attorneys under its revised standard.
Learning Point:
While the long-term effects of the Seventh Circuit’s opinion are yet to be seen, the ruling likely will yield an increase in copyright infringement litigation.
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