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17 U.S.C. § 511Liability of States, instrumentalities of States, and State officials for infringement of copyright

submitted 36 years ago by Pub. L. 101-553 to r/title-17-COPYRIGHTS · 216 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

States, state agencies, and state officials cannot claim sovereign immunity to avoid being sued in federal court for copyright infringement. If found liable, they face the same remedies — damages, costs, attorney's fees, and more — that any other infringer would face.

(a) In General. No state, no state agency, and no state officer or employee acting in their official role, can claim they are immune from being sued in federal court — whether under the Eleventh Amendment or any other sovereign-immunity rule — for violating a copyright owner's exclusive rights (sections 106 through 122), for illegally importing infringing copies or phonorecords (section 602), or for any other copyright violation under this title. Anyone, including government or non-government entities, may bring such a suit. (b) Remedies. In a lawsuit described in subsection (a), the same remedies — both legal and equitable — are available against the state exactly as they would be against any private or public party that isn't a state. These remedies include: seizing and disposing of infringing items (section 503), actual damages and profits or statutory damages (section 504), costs and attorney's fees (section 505), and the remedy described in section 510.
the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain
(a)In General.—

Any State, any instrumentality of a State, and any officer or employee of a State or instrumentality of a State acting in his or her official capacity, shall not be immune, under the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States or under any other doctrine of sovereign immunity, from suit in Federal court by any person, including any governmental or nongovernmental entity, for a violation of any of the exclusive rights of a copyright owner provided by sections 106 through 122, for importing copies of phonorecords in violation of section 602, or for any other violation under this title.

(b)Remedies.—

In a suit described in subsection (a) for a violation described in that subsection, remedies (including remedies both at law and in equity) are available for the violation to the same extent as such remedies are available for such a violation in a suit against any public or private entity other than a State, instrumentality of a State, or officer or employee of a State acting in his or her official capacity. Such remedies include impounding and disposition of infringing articles under section 503, actual damages and profits and statutory damages under section 504, costs and attorney’s fees under section 505, and the remedies provided in section 510.

Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 101–553, § 2(a)(2), Nov. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 2749; amended Pub. L. 106–44, § 1(g)(6), Aug. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 222; Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title III, § 13210(4)(C), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1909.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit
  • 1990Enacted · Pub. L. 101-553 · 104 Stat. 2749
  • 1999Amended · Pub. L. 106-44 · 113 Stat. 222
  • 2002Amended · Pub. L. 107-273 · 116 Stat. 1909

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 101-553 on 1990-11-15.

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