Page:Starz Entertainment v. MGM Domestic Television Distribution.pdf/2

 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Dolly M. Gee, District Judge, Presiding, D.C. No. 2:20-cv-04085-DMG-KS

Mark A. Perry (argued), Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Washington, D.C.; Orin Snyder, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, New York, New York; Blaine H. Evanson, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Irvine, California; Jay P. Srinivasan, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Los Angeles, California; for Defendant-Appellant.

J. Wesley Earnhardt (argued), Evan R. Chesler, and Justin C. Clarke, Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP, New York, New York; Robert N. Klieger, Hueston Hennigan LLP, Los Angeles, California; for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Tyler T. Ochoa, Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California, for Amicus Curiae Professor Tyler T. Ochoa.

Benjamin H. Diessel and Michael Rondon, Wiggin and Dana LLP, New Haven, Connecticut; Nathan E. Denning, Wiggin and Dana LLP, New York, New York; for Amici Curiae Authors Guild Inc., and Other Artists’ Rights Organizations.

Before: KIM MCLANE WARDLAW, SANDRA S. IKUTA, and BRIDGET S. BADE, Circuit Judges.

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

The Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., provides that a civil action for copyright infringement is timely so long as it is “commenced within three years after the claim accrued.” 17 U.S.C. § 507(b). Generally, the claim “accrues” when the infringement or violation of one of the copyright holder’s exclusive rights occurs, known as the “incident of injury rule.” In our circuit, and every other circuit to have reached the question, an exception to that infringement rule has developed. Known as the “discovery rule,” a claim alternatively accrues when the copyright holder knows or reasonably should know that an infringement occurred.