Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC
784 F. Supp. 2d 313
S.D.N.Y.2011Background
- Plaintiffs (major record companies) sued Lime Group LLC, Lime Wire LLC, and Mark Gorton for secondary copyright infringement related to LimeWire file sharing.
- Court had previously granted summary judgment in Plaintiffs' favor on secondary infringement claims and damages phase is now at trial stage (May 2, 2011).
- Plaintiffs identified about 11,000 sound recordings infringed through LimeWire, seeking statutory damages for post-1972 works under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(1).
- Primary dispute: whether Plaintiffs may obtain a separate statutory damages award against Defendants for each individual infringer per work or a single award per work regardless of direct infringer count.
- Defendants contend § 504(c)(1) requires a single statutory damages award per work when liability is joint and several with many infringers.
- Court concludes Plaintiffs are entitled to a single statutory damages award per work against Defendants.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether § 504(c)(1) allows separate awards per infringer against a secondarily liable defendant | Plaintiffs: separate awards for each infringer per work permitted | Lime defendants: one award per work if only joint and several liability exists | One statutory award per work. |
| Whether the fact-finder may consider number of direct infringers when setting awards against a secondarily liable defendant | Awards can reflect number of direct infringers and lost revenue | Such consideration would produce excessive damages | Fact-finder may account for number of direct infringers but still only a single per-work award. |
| Whether asserting multiple per-work awards would yield an absurd result | Permitting multiple awards aligns with statutory text | Damages could reach hundreds of millions or trillions | Court rejects the outreach to multiple awards; adopts single per-work award to avoid absurdity. |
Key Cases Cited
- WB Music Corp. v. RTV Communications Group, Inc., 445 F.3d 538 (2d Cir. 2006) (affirmed single award per work against secondarily liable infringers)
- Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Television, Inc., 523 U.S. 340 (U.S. 1998) (joint liability with multiple infringers does not require multiple per-work damages)
- Columbia Pictures Television v. Krypton Broad. of Birmingham, Inc., 106 F.3d 284 (9th Cir. 1997) (collected arguments on per-work damages in joint liability context)
- Torraco v. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 615 F.3d 129 (2d Cir. 2010) (cautions against absurd statutory interpretations)
- Corley v. United States, 556 U.S. 303 (U.S. 2009) (canon against absurd results in statutory interpretation)