Awarding the prevailing defendant in a copy right infringement action $35,000 in attorney fees under the Copyright Act, out of the more than $200,000 requested, was not an abuse of discretion. The district court faithfully applied the governing factors and provided its reason ing in support of the award. The court deter mined that the infringement claim was reason able and viable, and rejected the notion that the pursuit of the claim was motivated by an improper purpose. Considering the principles of compensation and deterrence, the court concluded that the award would be sufficient to encourage innocent defendants to present and pursue a meritorious defense without discour aging copyright owners from seeking to enforce their rights when a sound basis existed.
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