Justices Take on All-or-Nothing ‘Discovery Rule’ Copyright Case

The Supreme Court’s interpretation of a single word in the copyright statute of limitations could be the difference between leaving some infringed creators hopeless and giving them a green light to seek damages spanning decades—with little apparent middle ground.

Producer Sherman Nealy hopes to defend an appeals court ruling that he can reach well beyond the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations because he was unaware Warner Chappell Music LLC used his work for years while he was in and out of prison. But the record label said such an application of the “discovery rule”—which starts the clock when an ...