Appellate court declines to reopen infringement judgment for a case that was not open on direct review.
In a copyright infringement case brought by Christ Center of Divine Philosophy, Inc. for infringement of religious books and sound recordings, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver has refused to reopen a judgment awarding $80,000 for willful infringement and a permanent injunction based on a later U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning copyright registration. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 139 S. Ct. 881 (2019) holding that an issued copyright registration is a precondition to filing a claim, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of a motion for relief from judgment where the defendant did not take any steps to keep the case open on direct review (Christ Center of Divine Philosophy, Inc. v. Elam, October 15, 2020, Moritz, N.).
Case date: 15 October 2020
Case number: 19-6186
Court: United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
A full summary of this case has been published on Kluwer IP Law.
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