Andreas v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
336 F.3d 789 (2003)
Relevant factsFree
Artist Andreas (plaintiff) won a jury verdict against Audi and its ad agency M&S (defendants) for copyright infringement in a TT-coupe commercial, including profit-based damages tied to Audi beating sales expectations and the commercial's strong customer recall during its run; the district court vacated Audi's $570,000 profit award as too speculative but upheld M&S's $280,000 award.
IssueFree
Whether, once a plaintiff establishes that a defendant has profited from copyright infringement, the defendant bears the burden of proving that specific profits are not attributable to the infringement when establishing damages.
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