Abstract
The U.S. Copyright Act’s statute of limitations is unremarkable. Nonetheless, disputes concerning the interpretation and application of this statute have sufficiently vexed the courts that it has been the subject of two Supreme Court decisions in the past decade. Most recently, Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy resolved a circuit split that lasted only a few years. Despite this resolution, and the seeming unanimity of the lower courts in adopting the discovery rule of accrual, closer examination reveals that the lower courts are applying the discovery rule in two very different ways, depending on the nature of the dispute between the parties. Moreover, a recent Second Circuit opinion is fundamentally inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s pronouncements on the issue, and is likely to lead to further conflicts among the lower courts. As a result, one can predict that the Supreme Court will have to intervene again in the foreseeable future.
Recommended Citation
Tyler T. Ochoa,
Warner Chappel Music, Inc. v. Nealy and the Copyright Act's Statute of Limitations,
24
Chi.-Kent J. Intell. Prop.
98
(2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/ckjip/vol24/iss1/8
