2d Circuit Addresses Question of Album's Status as a "Compilation" for Statutory Damages Award
Although the case does not warrant extensive discussion, the Second Circuit's opinion in Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc. is worth a passing reference if only for its discussion of an interesting, if perhaps not difficult, question of copyright law as it relates to statutory damages and albums.
Plaintiffs produced two copyrighted albums of music, each of which was comprised of 10 songs. Plaintiffs were successful in proving that defendants committed direct copyright infringement of the albums but their share of the revenue from these sales was small however, apparently totaling only $331.06.
Presumably for that reason, Plaintiffs sought an award of statutory damages under the Copyright Act, which specifies a dollar range of damages to be awarded per work infringed and states that all parts of a compilation consists of one work. Ultimately, the trial court awarded only $2400 in statutory damages, counting each album as one work.
Plaintiffs appealed arguing, in part, that each song on the two albums constituted a separate work because each song was separately copyrighted and the songs were sold individually. The Second Circuit disagreed however, concluding that an album falls within the Copyright Act's "expansive" definition of compilation and therefore infringement of an album results in only one statutory damage award.
The case cite is Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc., No. 09-2600-cv (2d Cir. Apr. 27, 2010).
