Dist. Ct. did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants’ motion for attorney’s fees incurred on certain common law copyright claims, even though Dist. Ct. had observed that said claims were baseless, where plaintiff had voluntarily dismissed said claims with prejudice. While there is strong presumption in favor of awarding attorney’s fees to prevailing defendants in copyright claims, Dist. Ct. could properly deny defendants’ request for attorney fees, where: (1) plaintiff’s lawsuit that included copyright and trademark infringement claims appeared to have been brought in good faith; (2) defendants had only filed answer with respect to copyright claims and had not filed any substantial briefing or conducted discovery on said claims prior to dismissal; and (3) plaintiffs’ claims had been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could deny instant request for fees even though plaintiff’s copyright claims were baseless.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Attorney Fees