## Facts

- Columbia Pictures Television owned copyrights in syndicated television programs, including *Who’s the Boss?*, *Silver Spoons*, *Hart to Hart*, and *T.J. Hooker*.
- Columbia licensed the programs to three television stations indirectly owned and controlled by C. Elvin Feltner, Jr., through affiliated corporate entities.
- The stations became delinquent on royalty payments, and Columbia attempted to terminate the license agreements.
- After termination, the stations continued broadcasting the programs without authorization.
- Columbia sued; it later abandoned non-copyright theories and proceeded on copyright infringement, seeking to hold Feltner personally liable.
- The district court granted summary judgment on liability, finding Feltner vicariously and contributorily liable for the stations’ infringements.
- The district court held a bench trial on statutory damages and awarded $8.8 million, plus more than $750,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.

## Issues

1. Whether the complaint sufficiently pleaded a claim arising under the Copyright Act to support federal subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a).
2. Whether Feltner could be held personally liable for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement based on his ownership and control of the infringing stations.
3. Whether statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c) could be calculated by treating (a) the stations as separate infringers and (b) individual episodes as separate “works,” rather than limiting damages to one award per series or one award for all stations.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment.
- The court held federal subject-matter jurisdiction was proper because the complaint alleged copyright ownership and infringement and sought remedies authorized by the Copyright Act.
- The court upheld the finding that Feltner was vicariously and contributorily liable for the infringing broadcasts by the stations he owned and controlled.
- The court affirmed the statutory damages structure, allowing damages against separate stations and permitting awards per infringed episode, and upheld the total statutory damages award and the fee-and-cost award.

## Legal Principles

- A complaint arises under federal copyright law for 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a) when it alleges copyright ownership and infringement and seeks relief provided by the Copyright Act (including injunctive relief, impoundment, damages, and fees).
- An individual who has the right and ability to supervise infringing activity and a direct financial interest in it may be vicariously liable for copyright infringement committed by controlled entities.
- An individual who knows of infringing activity and materially contributes to it may be contributorily liable.
- Statutory damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c) may be awarded per infringed “work”; in televised series distribution, individual episodes may qualify as separate works for statutory-damages purposes.
- Separate broadcasting entities may be treated as separate infringers when calculating statutory damages, permitting multiple statutory awards where infringement occurs through distinct stations.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit sustained federal jurisdiction and affirmed personal liability against a controlling owner for unauthorized broadcasts after license termination, while approving a statutory-damages framework that treated separate stations as separate infringers and allowed per-episode awards within § 504(c)’s limits.


Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. v. Krypton Broad. of Birmingham, Inc., 106 F.3d 284 (9th Cir. 1997)