Cite as 39 F.4th 1236 (9th Cir. 2022)
provider and that MGM licensed no other covered content in violation of the Library Agreements. Instead of those assurances, in November 2019, MGM provided Starz with a list of 136 movies and 108 television series episodes that had been licensed to other service providers (including MGM-owned rival service Epix) in violation of the Library Agreements. Starz continued to conduct its own investigation and subsequently identified nearly 100 additional movies not included on MGM’s November list that were licensed to third parties during time periods they were exclusively licensed to Starz.
B.
Starz sued MGM in May 2020, asserting 340 claims of direct copyright infringement, 340 claims of contributory copyright infringement, 340 claims of vicarious copyright infringement, one claim of breach of contract, and one claim of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. In July 2020, MGM moved for dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), arguing that many of Starz’s copyright infringement claims are barred by the Supreme Court’s decision in Petrella, which MGM asserts “imposes a strict bar to collecting any damages for copyright infringements that occur more than three years prior to the filing of the complaint.”[1] In a well-reasoned order, the district court concluded that Petrella left unaffected the discovery rule—that under the Copyright Act there exists “a three-year damages bar [under § 507(b)] except when the plaintiff reasonably was not aware of the infringements at the time they occurred.”
II.
The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338, which confers subject matter jurisdiction over copyright actions. At MGM’s request, the district court certified its order for interlocutory appeal, which we accepted, vesting us with jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).
We review the district court’s denial of a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) de novo. Platt v. Moore, 15 F.4th 895, 901 (9th Cir. 2021). We accept all well-pleaded factual allegations contained in the complaint as true, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), and decide whether the complaint articulates “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face,” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). The district court’s interpretations of the Copyright Act are reviewed de novo. Perfect 10, Inc. v. Giganews, Inc., 847 F.3d 657, 665 (9th Cir. 2017).
III.
A.
17 U.S.C. § 507 establishes the statute of limitations under the Copyright Act: “No civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued.” The key question we must answer is when does a copyright infringement claim accrue?
A claim ordinarily accrues when the plaintiff has a “complete and present cause of action.” Bay Area Laundry & Dry Cleaning Pension Tr. Fund v. Ferbar Corp. of Cal., 522 U.S. 192, 201, 118 S.Ct. 542, 139 L.Ed.2d 553 (1997) (citation omitted). In the copyright context, a claim accrues “when an infringing act occurs,” Pe-
- ↑ The parties entered into a tolling agreement that made the operative date of the Complaint for assessing the statute of limitations March 24, 2020.
