John C. Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc. (510 U.S. 517)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 1, 1994 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 510 U.S. 517 · 114 S. Ct. 1023
- Decided
- March 1, 1994
- Term
- October Term 1993
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Attorneys
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. The Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U. S. C. § 505, provides in relevant part that in any copyright infringement action “the court may . .. award a reasonable attorney’s fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs.” The question presented in this case is what standards should inform a court’s decision to award attorney’s fees to a prevailing defendant in a copyright infringement action — a question that has produced conflicting views in the Courts of Appeals. Petitioner John Fogerty is a successful musician, who, in the late 1960’s, was the. lead singer and songwriter of a popular music group known as “Creedence Clearwater Revival.” In 1970, he wrote a song entitled “Run Through the Jungle” and sold the exclusive publishing rights to predeeessors-ininterest of respondent Fantasy, Inc., who later obtained the copyright by assignment. The music group disbanded in 1972 and Fogerty subsequently published under another recording label. In 1985, he published and registered a copyright to a song entitled “The Old Man Down the Road,” which was released on an album distributed by Warner Brothers Records, Inc. Respondent Fantasy, Inc., sued Fogerty, Warner Brothers, and affiliated companies in District Court, alleging that “The Old Man Down the Road” was merely “Run Through the Jungle” with new words. The copyright infringement…
Excerpt of a 36,387-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.