Firm News
Wiggin and Dana Represents Artists’-Rights Amici in Successfully Defending the Availability of Copyright Damages at Supreme Court
On May 9, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, holding that a copyright owner can obtain monetary damages for any timely infringement claim, “no matter when the infringement occurred.” Wiggin and Dana represented a group of artists’-rights organizations, including The Authors Guild, Inc., The Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, The Graphic Artists Guild, The Romance Writers of America, The Songwriters Guild of America, Inc. and The Textbook & Academic Authors Association, which submitted an amicus brief in support of this position.
“This Supreme Court ruling is a win for authors and all creative professionals, enabling them to obtain a fair shake when their creative works are infringed upon even when they did not and could not reasonably know of any infringement,” said Benjamin Diessel, chair of Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Technology Disputes Practice Group. Litigation Partner Nathan Denning added, “The Supreme Court’s decision to reject an artificial cutoff on monetary recovery correctly brings the Second Circuit in line with the other circuits to have considered this issue and is a win for creative professionals across the board.”
Wiggin and Dana had previously represented the same group of artists’-rights organizations as amici in a Ninth Circuit appeal raising the same issue. The Ninth Circuit had also adopted the Wiggin and Dana amici’s arguments, creating a circuit split with the Second Circuit that led to the Supreme Court granting certiorari in Nealy.
Wiggin and Dana’s Antitrust and Technology Disputes Practice Group routinely represents clients in cutting-edge and high-profile disputes involving IP rightsholders, technology companies, international pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, hospital systems, startups, franchisors, and others.
About Wiggin and Dana
Wiggin and Dana is a full-service law firm of highly talented, creative, and experienced lawyers dedicated to exceeding our clients’ expectations every day. With offices in Connecticut, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Florida, we represent clients throughout the United States and globally on a wide range of sophisticated and complex matters. From defending a Fortune 500 institution in “bet-the-company” litigation, to helping the next generation of inventors bring new technologies to market, to preserving the wealth that a family business has worked so hard to create, we pride ourselves in offering value-driven solutions and results.
