Barboza

I. OVERVIEW

Lucia Munguia Albarran (“Albarran”) and her husband, Antonio Barboza (“Bar-boza”) (collectively “Appellants”), were found liable after a jury trial in District Court for willful infringement of New Form, Inc.’s (“Appellee”) copyright for certain Spanish language films. The District Court instructed the jury that “willful infringement” required a showing by a preponderance of the evidence that Appellants “knew that they were infringing the [Appellee’s] copyrights or that they acted with reckless disregard as to whether they were doing so.” After judgment was entered, Appellants filed for bankruptcy and sought to discharge the judgment award. The Bankruptcy Judge held on summary judgment that the judgment award was nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. § 523 (a)(6) as a “willful and malicious injury” based upon the jury’s finding of willful infringement and uncontroverted evidence of Appellants’ knowledge of Appellee’s copyright interest.

The BAP affirmed and held that a statutory award of damages for willful copyright infringement is a debt for a “categorically harmful activity,” which is nondischargeable under § 523(a)(6) “if the Bankruptcy Court determines that the…