Music Labels Ask High Court to Resolve Copyright Damages Rift

Two music publishers urged the US Supreme Court to address a circuit split and prohibit copyright plaintiffs from reaching beyond a three-year statute of limitations for damages.

Warner Chappel Music Inc. and Sherman Artist Publishing Group LLC told the justices that the two federal appeals courts with the highest traffic for copyright disputes—the Ninth and Second circuits, which include Hollywood and New York, respectively—have reached conflicting rulings on what’s known as the “discovery rule.”

That rule says a statute of limitations period begins to run when a plaintiff actually discovers or should have discovered a harm. The Eleventh Circuit in ...