Forum on Attorney’s Fees in Copyright Cases: Are We Running Through the Jungle Now or Is the Old Man Still Stuck Down the Road?

Abstract:     
In 1994, the Supreme Court handed down Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., its only opinion ever to address the matter of awarding fees in copyright infringements cases. In this forum, Paul Marcus and David Nimmer, two “brother in copyright law” – who also happen to be brothers-in-law – put side fraternal affections to debate the implications of that ruling.

Specifically, the two authors review the pre-Fogerty dual and even-handed approaches that courts took in deciding whether to award attorneys fees to prevailing plaintiffs or defendants. The two authors then debate whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Fogerty significantly altered the landscape for the recovery of attorney fees

Number of Pages in PDF File: 35

Keywords: copyright, infringement, attorney, fee, Fogerty, court

Accepted Paper Series