17 USC § 1323 - Recovery for infringement | Title 17 - Copyrights | U.S. Code

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Current through Pub. L. 112-238. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

(a) Damages.— Upon a finding for the claimant in an action for infringement under this chapter, the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement. In addition, the court may increase the damages to such amount, not exceeding $50,000 or $1 per copy, whichever is greater, as the court determines to be just. The damages awarded shall constitute compensation and not a penalty. The court may receive expert testimony as an aid to the determination of damages.

(b) Infringer’s Profits.— As an alternative to the remedies provided in subsection (a), the court may award the claimant the infringer’s profits resulting from the sale of the copies if the court finds that the infringer’s sales are reasonably related to the use of the claimant’s design. In such a case, the claimant shall be required to prove only the amount of the infringer’s sales and the infringer shall be required to prove its expenses against such sales.

(c) Statute of Limitations.— No recovery under subsection (a) or (b) shall be had for any infringement committed more than 3 years before the date on which the complaint is filed.

(d) Attorney’s Fees.— In an action for infringement under this chapter, the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

(e) Disposition of Infringing and Other Articles.— The court may order that all infringing articles, and any plates, molds, patterns, models, or other means specifically adapted for making the articles, be delivered up for destruction or other disposition as the court may direct.

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(a) Damages.— Upon a finding for the claimant in an action for infringement under this chapter, the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement. In addition, the court may increase the damages to such amount, not exceeding $50,000 or $1 per copy, whichever is greater, as the court determines to be just. The damages awarded shall constitute compensation and not a penalty. The court may receive expert testimony as an aid to the determination of damages.

(b) Infringer’s Profits.— As an alternative to the remedies provided in subsection (a), the court may award the claimant the infringer’s profits resulting from the sale of the copies if the court finds that the infringer’s sales are reasonably related to the use of the claimant’s design. In such a case, the claimant shall be required to prove only the amount of the infringer’s sales and the infringer shall be required to prove its expenses against such sales.

(c) Statute of Limitations.— No recovery under subsection (a) or (b) shall be had for any infringement committed more than 3 years before the date on which the complaint is filed.

(d) Attorney’s Fees.— In an action for infringement under this chapter, the court may award reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

(e) Disposition of Infringing and Other Articles.— The court may order that all infringing articles, and any plates, molds, patterns, models, or other means specifically adapted for making the articles, be delivered up for destruction or other disposition as the court may direct.

Source

(Added Pub. L. 105–304, title V, § 502,Oct. 28, 1998, 112 Stat. 2914.)

The table below lists the classification updates, since Jan. 3, 2012, for this section. Updates to a broader range of sections may be found at the update page for containing chapter, title, etc.

The most recent Classification Table update that we have noticed was Wednesday, February 6, 2013

An empty table indicates that we see no relevant changes listed in the classification tables. If you suspect that our system may be missing something, please double-check with the Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

How To Use

Multiple entries for a section are listed most recent first, within the section.

The Session Year indicates which session of Congress was responsible for the changes classified. The Congress number forms the first part of the Public Law number; each Congress has two sessions.

Abbreviations used in the Description of Change column:

An empty field implies a standard amendment.
"new" means a new section or new note, or all new text of an existing section or note.
"nt" means note.
"nt [tbl]" means note [table].
"prec" means preceding.
"fr" means a transfer from another section.
"to" means a transfer to another section.
"omitted" means the section is omitted.
"repealed" means the section is repealed.
"nt ed change" and "ed change" - See the Editorial Classification Change Table [pdf].

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General Reference

Refer to the LRC (Law Revision Council) for explanations about the US Code from the folks who put it all together.

You can look for information about what it is and is not, which titles are positive law, the schedule of Supplements, etc. Under download you can find the source data we use here (GPO locator files), as well as, PDF files that look just like the paper books (these may be rather large).

Refer to the Thomas site for changes that have not yet made it into the classification tables.

17 USC	Description of Change	Session Year	Public Law	Statutes at Large

17 USC § 1323 - Recovery for infringement

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