Warner Chappell Music v. Neal (601 U.S. 366)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 9, 2024 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 601 U.S. 366 · 144 S. Ct. 1135
- Decided
- May 9, 2024
- Term
- October Term 2023
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2023 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC., ET AL. v. NEALY ET AL. CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT No. 22–1078. Argued February 21, 2024—Decided May 9, 2024 Under the Copyright Act, a plaintiff must file suit “within three years after the claim accrued.” 17 U. S. C. §507 (b). On one understanding of that limitations provision, a copyright claim “accrue[s]” when “an infringing act occurs.” Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 572 U. S. 663 , 670. But under an alternative view, the so-called discovery rule, a claim accrues when “the plaintiff discovers, or with due dili- gence should have discovered,” the infringing act. Ibid., n. 4. That rule enables a diligent plaintiff to raise claims about even very old in- fringements if he discovered them within the three years prior to suit. In this case, respondent Sherman Nealy invoked the discovery rule to sue Warner Chappell Music for copyright…
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