Supreme Court rulings clarify portions of Copyright Act

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions clarified disputed aspects of the Copyright Act, potentially influencing future litigation.

• The justices affirmed a district court ruling that said a copyright infringement lawsuit can only be filed after the work at issue has been properly registered and not while an application is pending, despite processing time concerns.

• The prevailing party in an infringement case had $12.8 million in extra litigation expenses overruled, after the justices agreed the act’s mandate of awarding of “full costs” to prevailing parties does not go beyond costs already established in federal law.

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– David G. Oberdick, Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, dgo@muslaw.com