Bouchat v. Bon-ton Department Stores, Inc.: Claim Preclusion, Copyright Law, and Massive Infringements

摘要

Champion and Bon-ton together applied a questionable application of the privity and identity of claims analyses in a copyright context. The loose application of the virtual representation doctrine provided by the district court could unfairly deprive parties of their due process rights if repeated in the copyright context. Future courts should more narrowly describe the different interests present in copyright cases and ensure that they do not incorrectly presume that parties represent precisely the same interests. The Fourth Circuit's application of identity of claims similarly failed to adequately address the complications presented by copyright law and failed to accord the Bouchat litigation with their own precedent on damages in copyright cases. These problems are likely to arise again, given (1) the character of copyright law as a collection of distinct claims; (2) the lack of clarity from courts regarding the connection between direct and contributory copyright infringement; (3) and the increased possibility for massively distributed schemes of infringement in the digital age.