“The Ninth Circuit has said that the right to a jury trial can be revoked only if the parties willfully and voluntarily consent.”
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on the copyright dispute between Erickson Productions and Kraig Kast, ultimately dismissing the case and remanding it to district court for jury trial. The Court of Appeal ruled that the district court erred in not conducting a jury trial after Kast’s first appeal.
The lawsuit began when Jim Erickson of Erickson Productions accused Kast of using three copyrighted photos on his development website without permission. The lawsuit was heard by a jury in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and after finding that Kast had willfully infringed copyright, he awarded Erickson $450,000 in damages.
Kast appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and in 2019 the Court of Appeals remanded the case on two issues. The Ninth Circuit reversed the willful ruling due to an error in the jury’s instructions.
The district court then again ruled that the infringement was willful and awarded Ericsson $450,000 in damages. However, the verdict was passed without being heard before a jury.
Kast’s recent appeal asked the Ninth Circuit to reverse and remand the district court’s second judgment on the grounds that the jury failed to hear it. The Court of Appeal agreed.
“A well-directed jury has never decided willfulness, and the proper remedy is a new trial on both issues,” the 9th Circuit judge wrote.
Right to a Jury Trial
In its decision, the Ninth Circuit stated: Feltner v. Columbia Pictures Televisionit held that the Seventh Amendment affirms “the right to a jury trial for which the copyright owner chooses to recover statutory damages.” It establishes that it covers “all matters relating to the award of statutory damages.”
The Court of Appeals ruled that willfulness is a damages-related issue because it “dramatically expands the range of possible statutory damages.”
Damages amounted to $450,000 because courts can award up to $150,000 for each infringed work, and Kast was accused of infringing three Erickson copyrighted works. .
Cust argued that the case should again be vacated because a properly directed jury had never determined willfulness or damages, and therefore a Seventh Amendment right had not been satisfied. .
According to the Ninth Circuit, instead of holding a new trial by jury, the district court “considered that it was bound by this court’s order to decide the question of the existing record.” Therefore, the Court of Appeal ruled that a new inquiry on willfulness and damages was appropriate.
Ericsson’s case
Erickson attempted to argue that Cust had waived his right to a second trial before a jury, citing an earlier judgment that ruled that he could waive the Seventh Amendment.
However, Ericsson was struggling in the debate. The Court of Appeals held that jury trials were not persuasive because precedent states that jury trials are a fundamental right, so the Court “needs to indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver.”
Jacob vs. New York City describes the 7th Amendment as “a very basic and sacred right of the citizen… [that it] It should be guarded carefully in court. ”
Erickson argued that Kast waived his right to a second jury trial by not requesting a second jury trial. However, the Ninth Circuit disagreed, stating that the right to a jury trial can only be withdrawn if the parties willfully and voluntarily consent.
The court also disagreed with Erickson’s contention that Kast sought to re-examine a properly denied issue. Ericsson further noted that Kast did not object to the expedited trial, citing knowledge of his participation in the bench trial.
Nonetheless, a Ninth Circuit judge held that “Kast’s amenab[ility] Participation in an expedited Bench Trial cannot be construed as knowledge of participation in the Bench Trial. ”
The judge concluded that “Cust did not waive the Seventh Amendment’s request for a jury trial. The proper remedy is remand to a new trial to determine willfulness and statutory damages.” rice field.
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Author: everett225
