Justices Mull Dismissing ‘Discovery Rule’ Copyright Damages Case

Several US Supreme Court justices questioned whether they should wait to decide Warner Chappell Music Inc.'s bid to cap copyright damages as time-barred until they’ve decided whether to address the propriety of the “discovery rule” in copyright lawsuits.

Warner’s attorneys fielded questions from multiple justices during oral argument Wednesday suggesting its high court petition took primary aim at a question the court had explicitly taken off the table.

The label—accused by rapper and producer Sherman Nealy of infringing his work unbeknownst to him for roughly a decade —argued in its petition the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations barred ...