New Form, Inc. v. Tekila Films, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Tekila Films, Inc. and Marco Iniguez (“Tekila Films”) bring this appeal after a jury trial in which they were found to have willfully infringed fifteen of New Form’s copyrights to Mexican films. Before trial, the district court rejected Tekila Films’s proposed jury instruction defining “statutory damages” under the Copyright Act. See 17 U.S.C. § 504 (c). Tekila Films appeals that ruling, and claims that the jury’s subsequent award of $1,312,500 in statutory damages to New Form was excessive. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

The district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to adopt Tekila Films’s proposed jury instruction that would direct the jury to measure statutory damages in relation to actual damages using the “fair market value” of the infringed works. A statutory damages award within the limits prescribed by Congress is appropriate “[ejven for uninjurious and unprofitable invasions of copyright.” F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc., 344 U.S. 228, 233 , 73 S.Ct. 222 , 97 L.Ed. 276 (1952). We have consistently held and stated that statutory damages are recoverable without regard to the existence or provability…