United States Ninth Circuit

In a copyright action brought by artist-plaintiff against publisher-defendant involving publication of derivative works purportedly outside the scope of their licensing agreement, the district court's judgment is: 1) vacated in part where the Copyright Act does not bar enforcement of a contractual attorney fees provision in the parties' agreement, but the district court abused its discretion by categorically excluding the majority of the plaintiff's requested fees without explanation; and 2) affirmed in part where the district court did not abuse its discretion in a) denying the plaintiff's motion for sanctions based on the defendant's alleged spoliation of evidence, b) interpreting the mandate from a prior appeal to exclude damages from the issues at trial, and c) denying the plaintiff's motion for leave to amend.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/19/2015
• Published 05/19/2015

Judges

• Hawkins

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel