Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won
not tay ber own
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Tabberone is pronounced tab ber won |
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Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc, 114 S.Ct. 1023 L.Ed.2d 455 (1994)
John Fogerty, a successful musician, who, in the late 1960's, was the lead singer and songwriter of a popular music group known as "Creedence Clearwater Revival." In 1970, he wrote a song entitled "Run Through the Jungle" and sold the exclusive publishing rights to predecessors-in-interest of respondent Fantasy, Inc., who later obtained the copyright by assignment Fogerty subsequently published under another recording label. In 1985, he published and registered a copyright to a song entitled "The Old Man Down the Road," which was released on an album distributed by Warner Brothers Records, Inc. Respondent Fantasy, Inc., sued Fogerty, Warner Brothers, and affiliated companies, in District Court, alleging that "The Old Man Down the Road" was merely "Run Through the Jungle" with new words. The copyright infringement claim went to trial, and a jury returned a verdict in favor of Fogerty. Fogerty moved for reasonable attorney's fees pursuant to 17 U.S.C. 505. The District Court denied the motion, finding that Fantasy's infringement suit was not brought frivolously or in bad faith as required by circuit precedent for an award of attorney's fees to a successful defendant. The Court of Appeals affirmed and declined to abandon the existing Ninth Circuit standard for awarding attorney's fees, which treated successful plaintiffs and successful defendants differently. Under that standard, commonly termed the "dual" standard, prevailing plaintiffs are generally awarded attorney's fees as a matter of course, while prevailing defendants must show that the original suit was frivolous or brought in bad faith. The Supreme Court reversed. The statutory language - "the court may also award a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs" - gives no hint that successful plaintiffs are to be treated differently than successful defendants. |
