Consumer Health Information Corp. v. Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 819 F.3d 992

Consumer Health (VA) developed patient-education materials for Amylin (CA) to support marketing of the diabetes drug Byetta; work began December 2005.
In March 2006 the parties executed a Master Services Agreement that expressly assigned "all right, title, and interest" in copyrights in the materials to Amylin.
Amylin stopped paying Consumer Health after September 30, 2006 but continued to use the materials or constituent elements.
In July 2013 Consumer Health sued Amylin and Eli Lilly in Indiana federal court alleging copyright infringement and seeking rescission of the contract on grounds of fraud and economic duress (to reclaim copyright ownership).
The district court dismissed the complaint as time-barred under both California's four-year statute for rescission claims and the Copyright Act's three-year statute; the Seventh Circuit affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Consumer Health's rescission claim (fraud/economic duress) is timely under California law	Rescission is a defensive theory to avoid enforcement, so barred defenses rule allows it despite delay	The claim is asserted offensively to regain copyright and is therefore subject to the 4-year rescission statute	Dismissed: claim is offensive, accrued by March 2006 (or Oct 2006), and is time-barred under Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 337
Whether the Copyright Act's 3-year limitations permits relief via the separate-accrual rule	Each infringing use restarts limitations (Petrella); later infringements within 3 years make suit timely	Where dispute is about ownership, accrual occurs when ownership is clearly repudiated/assigned, not per-use	Dismissed: ownership dispute accrued in March 2006 when copyright was expressly assigned; separate-accrual inapplicable

Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 1962 (2014) (held each discrete act of infringement triggers a separate 3-year limitations period in ordinary infringement cases)
Seven Arts Filmed Entm’t, Ltd. v. Content Media Corp. PLC, 733 F.3d 1251 (9th Cir. 2013) (ownership disputes accrue when co-ownership is plainly repudiated)
Stan Lee Media, Inc. v. Walt Disney Co., 774 F.3d 1292 (10th Cir. 2014) (adopts accrual-at-notice rule for ownership disputes)
Kwan v. Schlein, 634 F.3d 224 (2d Cir. 2011) (ownership actions accrue when claimant is put on inquiry notice)
Ritchie v. Williams, 395 F.3d 283 (6th Cir. 2005) (distinguishes ordinary infringement from ownership disputes for accrual)
Zuill v. Shanahan, 80 F.3d 1366 (9th Cir. 1996) (ownership claims accrue at repudiation)
Feist Publ’ns., Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., Inc., 499 U.S. 340 (1991) (copyright plaintiff must own a valid copyright to prevail)
Styne v. Stevens, 26 P.3d 343 (Cal. 2001) (defenses may be raised even if same matters would be time-barred as affirmative relief)