Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc.

Anne Bryant and Ellen Bernfeld (plaintiffs) produced and copyrighted two albums plus several individual songs on them, then contracted with Media Right Productions (defendant) to market the albums, which in turn arranged for Orchard Enterprises (defendant) to distribute them; Orchard later, without authorization, made and sold digital downloads of both full albums and individual songs online. The district court found direct infringement, treated Orchard as an innocent infringer owing the statutory minimum ($200 per infringed work, or $400 total for two albums), and ordered Media Right to pay $1,000 per infringed work ($2,000 total); the plaintiffs appealed, arguing damages should have been calculated per song rather than per album.