United States v. Julius Chow Lieh Liu

Julius Liu appeals his convictions and sentence for criminal copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit labels. Liu’s company, Super DVD, commercially replicated CDs and DVDs for various clients on a scale that subjects him to substantial criminal liability if a client— and, by extension, Liu — lacked permission from the copyright holder to make the copies.

Under the relevant criminal statutes, Liu’s guilt turns on whether he acted “willfully” and “knowingly.” We hold that the term “willfully” requires the government to prove that a defendant knew he was acting illegally rather than simply that he knew he was making copies. Similarly, to “knowingly” traffic in counterfeit labels requires knowledge that the labels were counterfeit. Because the district court improperly instructed the jury otherwise, we vacate Liu’s convictions and remand. We also conclude that the district court should dismiss the second count against Liu on remand because his counsel was ineffective, failing to raise an obvious statute-of-limitations defense.

BACKGROUND

I. The Replication of CDs and DVDs

Commercial CD and DVD replication differs from the process of recording content onto…