statutory damages. Nevertheless, the Court addresses the matter of willfulness below in order to narrow the potential issues for subsequent motion practice (if any).
If a defendant has infringed a plaintiff’s copyright, the plaintiff may forego actual damages in favor of statutory damages under the Copyright Act. See 17 U.S.C. § 504(c). The amount of statutory damages a court may award will generally range from $750 to $30,000 per work infringed. See 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(1). However, the upper range of statutory damages may increase to $150,000 per work if a defendant’s infringement was willful. 17 U.S.C. § 504(c)(2). “To prove ‘willfulness’ under the Copyright Act, the plaintiff must show (1) that the defendant was actually aware of the infringing activity, or (2) that the defendant’s actions were the result of ‘reckless disregard’ for, or ‘willful blindness’ to, the copyright holder’s rights.” Island Software & Computer Serv., Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 413 F.3d 257, 263 (2d Cir. 2005). “Although courts are generally reluctant to dispose of a case on summary judgment when mental state is at issue, it is permissible to do so where there are sufficient undisputed material facts on the record to make the
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