How Long Do You Have to Sue for Copyright Infringement, and How Far Back Do Damages Go?

Last updated: November 2026. Reviewed by Pavel Kolmogorov, California business litigation attorney (State Bar No. 321018).

A copyright suit must be filed within three years after the claim accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) In the Ninth Circuit a claim accrues when the owner knows or reasonably should know of the infringement, so recently found copying may still be actionable. The Supreme Court has not decided whether that rule is correct. Damages on a timely claim are not capped at three years. (Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy (2024) 601 U.S. 366.) Kolmogorov Law, P.C. litigates these claims in Orange County, Los Angeles, and across California.

Call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online to discuss a newly discovered infringement, or a demand over something your company posted years ago.

The copyright statute of limitations: three years from accrual

The statute is one sentence long. No civil action may be maintained unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) Everything depends on the word "accrued."

There are two candidates. Under the incident-of-injury rule, a claim accrues when the infringing act occurs. Under the discovery rule, it accrues when the copyright holder knows or reasonably should know that the infringement occurred. The Ninth Circuit applies the discovery rule and has done so for decades. (Starz Entertainment, LLC v. MGM Domestic Television Distribution, LLC (9th Cir. 2022) 39 F.4th 1236, 1240-1242.)

"Reasonably should know" does real work. An owner who received a tip, saw the use, or ignored obvious signs will have trouble claiming a late discovery. Courts ask what a reasonably diligent owner in the same position would have learned, and when.

Each infringing act has its own clock

Copyright claims do not accrue once for all time. The limitations period runs separately for each successive act of infringement. (Starz, supra, 39 F.4th at p. 1241.) Each new copy, sale, or posting starts its own three years.

This cuts both ways. An owner who has known about the copying for five years has not lost everything, because acts within the last three years remain actionable. But the older acts are gone, and knowledge is what separates that owner from the one who just found out.

One caution about websites. Whether an image that simply stays online is a fresh infringing act each day is contested, so do not build a case on that theory alone.

How far back damages go

Until 2024 the federal courts disagreed, and at least one circuit held that even a timely plaintiff could collect damages only for the three years before filing. The Ninth Circuit had already rejected that cap. (Starz, supra, 39 F.4th at p. 1244.)

The Supreme Court rejected it too. It held that the Copyright Act contains no separate time limit on monetary recovery, and that an owner with a timely claim is entitled to damages no matter when the infringement occurred. (Warner Chappell, supra, 601 U.S. 366.) For the owner who discovers in 2026 a use that began in 2019, the whole period is in play if the discovery was reasonable.

Two qualifications matter. First, the Court assumed that the discovery rule applies and said it was not deciding the question. Three justices dissented and signaled doubt about the rule itself. Discovery-based accrual is the law in the Ninth Circuit today, but it is not guaranteed forever. Second, a longer reach does not mean larger damages, which depend on registration.

Registration decides what kind of damages

A suit over a United States work generally cannot be filed until the copyright is registered or preregistered, or registration has been refused. (17 U.S.C. § 411(a).) Registering late does not bar the lawsuit, but it changes the remedy.

Statutory damages and attorney fees are generally unavailable for an infringement that began before the effective date of registration. (17 U.S.C. § 412.) An infringement that started in 2019 against a photograph registered in 2026 will usually be limited to actual damages and the infringer's attributable profits. (17 U.S.C. § 504(b).) For a stock-style image that often means a reasonable license fee, not a five-figure award.

Our pages on registration before a lawsuit and statutory damages and fees explain both rules.

If you are the owner who just found old copying

Write down the discovery date today, and how you found the use. That date starts the three years unless you reasonably should have found the use sooner, and the defendant will test it.

Then take these steps.

• Capture the infringing pages, with dates, before anything changes.
• Collect proof of creation and ownership: original files, metadata, contracts.
• File for registration if you have not.
• Ask yourself what the other side will ask: could you have found this sooner?
• Do not let the dispute drift. If talks run long, a written tolling agreement can pause the clock.

Our page on the elements of copyright infringement covers what has to be proved.

If you are defending a claim about an old post

Old claims have weak points, and the timeline is the first.

When should this plaintiff have known? Expect the argument that a professional licensor who runs automated image searches should have found the use sooner. Earlier letters, takedown notices, or licensing talks can prove actual knowledge. If the plaintiff knew more than three years before suing, only acts within the three years survive.

Check the registration date against the first use. If the use came first, statutory damages and fees are probably off the table, and the claim is worth far less than the letter says.

Do not count on laches. As the Ninth Circuit has summarized the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling on the point, laches does not bar relief on an infringement claim brought within the three-year period. (Starz, supra, 39 F.4th at p. 1238.) The ruling concerned damages, and in extraordinary cases delay can still limit an injunction or other equitable relief.

Many demands are priced as if the maximum statutory award applied. Our page on copyright infringement letters explains how to evaluate one.

Ownership claims run on a different clock

Everything above concerns infringement. A dispute about who owns a work is treated differently. A claim to be a co-author accrues once, and it is barred three years after a plain and express repudiation of co-ownership is communicated to the claimant. There is no fresh clock with each use. Our page on joint authorship and co-ownership explains that rule.

What to bring to the first meeting

• The work, proof of when it was created, and any registration certificate.
• Screenshots or archive captures of the infringing use, with dates.
• A short note on how and when you discovered the use.
• Any earlier correspondence between the parties.
• If you are the defendant, the demand letter and records showing when the material was first posted.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you have to sue for copyright infringement?

Three years after the claim accrued. (17 U.S.C. § 507(b).) In California federal courts, which follow Ninth Circuit law, a claim generally accrues when the copyright owner knows or reasonably should know of the infringement. Each separate infringing act has its own three-year period, so recent acts can be timely even when older, known acts are not.

I just found a company that has used my photographs on its website since 2019. Is it too late to sue?

Probably not, if you sue within three years of when you discovered the use and could not reasonably have found it sooner. Under the discovery rule applied in California federal courts, the claim would be timely. You should document how you found it, register the photographs if you have not, and expect the defendant to challenge your discovery date.

How far back can copyright damages go?

For a timely claim, back to the first infringing act. In 2024 the Supreme Court held that the Copyright Act places no separate time limit on monetary recovery. (Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy (2024) 601 U.S. 366.) In California that helps owners who rely on the discovery rule. The type of damages still depends on when the work was registered.

What is the discovery rule in copyright law?

It is the rule that a copyright claim accrues when the owner knows, or reasonably should know, that an infringement occurred, not on the date of the infringing act. The Ninth Circuit applies it, so it governs federal cases in California. The Supreme Court has not decided whether the rule is correct, and some justices have questioned it.

Our company got a demand letter about a blog image we posted six years ago. Is the claim too old?

Not necessarily. If the owner sues within three years of when it reasonably discovered the image, a California federal court will generally treat the claim as timely. Look closely at when the owner knew or should have known, and at the registration date. If the image was registered after you posted it, statutory damages and attorney fees are likely unavailable.

Talk to a California copyright litigation attorney

If timing may decide your copyright dispute, call (909) 235-6116 or contact us online. Kolmogorov Law, P.C. is located at 327 Magnet, Irvine, CA 92618, and represents businesses and creators in Orange County, Los Angeles, and throughout California. Copyright cases are filed in federal court, for us most often the Central District of California in Santa Ana and Los Angeles. See our intellectual property page for related copyright work.

This page provides general information about federal copyright law and is not legal advice. Outcomes depend on the discovery date, the registration, the facts, and the court.