What is the statute of limitations when suing for illegally downloaded music and videos in a civil case?
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What is the statute of limitations when suing for illegally downloaded music and videos in a civil case?
What is the statute of limitations for downloading a few illegal music and video files? I downloaded a few music files and video files from a site just over 4 years ago. I read that the statute of limitations for civil copyright infringement is 3 years. However, I was wondering if the discovery rule is applied when determining the statute of limitations for civil copyright infringement cases in which downloading illegal files is the issue?
Asked on July 20, 2011 Pennsylvania
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Different states have different statutes of limitations for copyright violations on their own separate and apart from Federal law on the subject.
In dealing with the delayed discovery rule for starting the running of statutes of limitations, this rule typically deals with fraud cases as opposed to copyright infringement cases from what I have seen. Proving copyright infringement if the infringement was simply an illegal download for personal use and not resale on the open market for profit.
Apart from a civil action for copyright infringement, there are also Federal and state criminal laws prohibiting such violations where jail and substantial monetary fines can be imposed for a criminal conviction.
Perhaps buying the items versus illegally downloading them would be the thing to do in the future for you?
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