Decisions Roundup: 6th Cir. Affirms Fee Award Against Rap Label

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Decisions Roundup: 6th Cir. Affirms Fee Award Against Rap Label

Wed Apr 09, 2008 @ 10:58AM PST

Posted by Matthew Heller

Gavel_celeb_20061127Case: Bridgeport Music v. Universal-Polygram International Publishing

Court: 6th Circuit

Date: March 25, 2008

Facts: After summary dismissal of a copyright infringement action over music sampling, a trial judge awarded Universal-Polygram $79,340 in attorney fees. Bridgeport, the judge ruled, had pursued an objectively reasonable legal theory, but the theory became unreasonable once the court granted summary judgment on the identical issue to co-defendant Warner-Chappell.

Holding: "Objective reasonableness is not an impenetrable shield against fees and costs," the 6th Circuit said in affirming the award, and "it made little practical sense for Bridgeport to continue to pursue vigorously its claim before the district court when it was on notice that the judge was virtually certain to reject its sole theory of recovery." The trial court also did not err "by concluding that
Bridgeport continued to press the theory as part of its overly aggressive litigation tactics and not in
any hope or expectation of actually surviving summary judgment."

Attorneys of Record: Richard Busch of King & Ballow in Nashville for Bridgeport; Russell Frackman of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles for Universal.

To view the opinion, click here.

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