<i>Kirtsaeng</i> Clarifies Attorney's Fees Standard In Copyright Cases, Injects More Uncertainty Into Availability of Fee Awards

Issuing its second decision in Supap Kirtsaeng's long-standing dispute with John Wiley &amp; Sons ' and its first copyright decision in nearly two years ' the SCOTUS recently clarified the applicable standard for evaluating the appropriateness of an attorney's fee award under Section 505 of the Copyright Act, holding that a district court should give substantial weight to the objective reasonableness of the losing party's position, while also taking into consideration all other circumstances relevant to the attorney's fees inquiry.

8 minute read July 01, 2016 at 12:00 AM
By
James A. Trigg and Sabina Vayner
<i>Kirtsaeng</i> Clarifies Attorney's Fees Standard In Copyright Cases, Injects More Uncertainty Into Availability of Fee Awards

Issuing its second decision in Supap Kirtsaeng's long-standing dispute with John Wiley & Sons ' and its first copyright decision in nearly two years ' the U.S. Supreme Court recently clarified the applicable standard for evaluating the appropriateness of an attorney's fee award under Section 505 of the Copyright Act, holding that a district court should give substantial weight to the objective reasonableness of the losing party's position, while also taking into consideration all other circumstances relevant to the attorney's fees inquiry.

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