The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in creating uncertainty for potential copyright infringers who may have committed such acts decades ago. Potential infringers can no longer take comfort in the passage of years, as they may now be held responsible for damages for an unlimited time period so long as a complaint was filed within three years of the discovery of the infringement. This development may significantly impact the amount of damages available to a plaintiff and is likely to cause concern to potential infringers and their insurers. The Copyright Act clearly states, "[no] civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of this title unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued."' Even so, there is an ever-developing circuit split over whether damages for copyright claims also are limited to the three-year lookback period, as calculated from the date the complaint was filed. The circuit split continues to gain momentum from the Eleventh Circuit's most recent decision in Nealy and Music Specialist, Inc. v. Warner Chappell Music, Inc. and Artist Publishing Group.
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