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HOWARD v. PEARL (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.2021-09-20No. No. 20-55959

Summary

Holding. The court reversed the district court's dismissal of the copyright infringement claims and remanded for reconsideration of whether the separate-accrual rule applies to allow the lawsuit to proceed.

Jermaine Howard appealed the dismissal of his copyright infringement lawsuit, which the district court had rejected as time-barred under the Copyright Act's three-year statute of limitations. Howard claimed that songs he co-authored with the defendants in 1996 were being sold without permission. The appellate court found that the district court erred in dismissing the case outright, noting that Howard's amended complaint alleged ongoing sales of the infringing material.

The court reversed the dismissal and sent the case back to the district court to properly analyze whether the separate-accrual rule for copyright claims applies. Under that doctrine, each new act of infringement restarts the limitations clock, meaning that even if the original composition predates the statutory period, subsequent infringing acts occurring within three years of the lawsuit could support a valid claim.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Application of copyright statute of limitations to ongoing infringement
  • Whether separate-accrual rule permits suit based on recent infringing acts despite old composition date
  • Sufficiency of complaint allegations under Section 1915(e)(2)

Procedural posture

The appellant pro se appealed a district court dismissal of copyright claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), which permits dismissal of legally frivolous claims.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM **

Jermaine Jevon Howard appeals pro se from the district courts judgment dismissing pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) his copyright infringement action. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo. Watison v. Carter, 668 F.3d 1108, 1112 (9th Cir. 2012). We reverse and remand.

The district court dismissed Howards copyright claims as untimely under the Copyright Acts three-year statute of limitations, 17 U.S.C. § 507(b), because Howard claimed infringement of his copyright in songs that he allegedly co-authored with defendants in 1996. See Polar Bear Prods., Inc. v. Timex Corp., 384 F.3d 700, 706 (9th Cir. 2004) (copyright claim must be filed within three years after accrual). In his second amended complaint, Howard alleged that the songs continue to be sold. Accordingly, we reverse the district courts dismissal of the copyright claims for failure to state a claim under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and remand for consideration of whether the separate accrual rule applies. See Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 572 U.S. 663, 671, 134 S.Ct. 1962, 188 L.Ed.2d 979 (2014) (under the separate-accrual rule for copyright claims, “each infringing act starts a new limitations period”); Oracle Am., Inc. v. Hewlett Packard Enter. Co., 971 F.3d 1042, 1047 (9th Cir. 2020) (three-year statute of limitations runs separately for each violation).

We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued in the opening brief. See Padgett v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).

REVERSED and REMANDED.