Copyright Disputes Benefit from Litigation Funding

The digital age we live in makes copying artists' hard work easy and proving copyright infringement tricky. Thanks to digital media, there is a huge market for content, and the ability to copy and distribute content, without paying the original artists, is big business. Although there are digital tools that can help detect when specific art (music, images, software, literature) is being used, going to court and proving infringement is a tricky and expensive affair.

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Copyrights are valuable and represent the many years of hard work an artist endures before their work becomes viable. The copyright prevents others from simply copying their work and profiting from the artist's success. Instead, it will allow for compensation and acknowledgment.

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When a user infringes the copyright, the copyright holder can elect one of two types of damages, actual or statutory. But we all know how expensive lawsuits can be and how long they can take. That means it will cost the artist a substantial amount of money to pursue this infringement.

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This is where litigation finance plays a vital role. Artists can enforce their rights in court without financial risk to themselves through this type of non-recourse funding. This article looks at the benefits of litigation funding for copyright disputes.

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The Benefits of Litigation Funding For Copyright Owners

Beyond the obvious benefit of access to capital and minimised economic risk, litigation finance can offer many other advantages:

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?Access to the right lawyer: Not everyone has the budget to employ the best lawyers for their case. Litigation funding allows the artist access to the best counsel for the job.

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?Using capital wisely: A lawsuit loan also makes sense for bigger companies. Although these companies may have access to more funds than individuals, their resources are best spent on ongoing daily operations or growing their business.

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?Widespread infringement: By working with litigation funding, artists aren't limited to dealing with one defendant at a time or by jurisdiction. Instead, access to capital will help counsel pursue all defendants simultaneously, no matter how broad the copyright infringement has spread. This will help the artist stop all infringement issues they may be facing rather than only tackle the cases they can afford.

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?A sign of strength: When an artist has the backing of litigation finance, the infringer will get the sign that the plaintiff has a strong case and is capable of a long, hard fight. This is because litigation funders carry out independent research and will only take on an issue if they find it worthy.?

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Law firms also benefit from the use of litigation funding:

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?Retaining clients: Law firms will lose potential clients to other firms that can cover a client's costs. So, law firms must form relationships with reputable litigation funders that can offer them the resources and flexibility to represent clients that can't cover all of their legal fees.

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?Mitigating risk: Copyright claims are unpredictable and often come with significant damages, so working with litigation financing carries less risk.

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?Increased profitability: By taking cases that are covered by a lawsuit loan, law firms don't have to look to increase internal costs or raise their rates to increase profitability.

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?Strategic partner: Partnering with a reputable litigation funder offers an objective review of the case and what counsel will be facing when taking the case. As a result, the litigation funder can become a valuable resource to counsel during litigation.

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What Copyright Cases Are a Good Fit for Litigation Funding?

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Copyright infringement is a complex claim, so litigation funding is a good fit for this kind of legal claim. Most solo artists or authors can't afford to face a case budget without a lawsuit loan. Partnering with a funder allows the artist to protect their work and receive compensation for the infringement. However, certain types of cases make a better fit for financing:

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Images: A litigation funder will need an image infringement case to be widespread, rather than just a single incident, for it to be valuable. Although a handful of reproductions violate artists' rights, a small lawsuit like this will seldom require financing or the economic upside for the investment.

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Software: Whether intentional or accidental, an author's code ending up with another company's software is a breach. Damages can mount up quickly if many copies of the software are sold, or the code is integral. But, of course, detection is tricky.

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Music: Music has two copyrights: the composition and the performance. Both come about during creation and allow the authors or performers to guard their work. However, with the digital era and new markets for music, musicians don't all rely on publishers to distribute their music anymore, which means proving infringement most often lies in the hands of solo artists.

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Events and performances: Because everyone owns a smartphone, filming and distributing a concert, speech, or public event is easy. These can, in turn, power marketing or advertising campaigns without compensating the artist and violating their copyrights.

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Protecting an author's or artist's work through litigation can be expensive and demanding, often setting individuals with limited resources against infringers with deeper resources. However, copyright actions can provide a compelling investment opportunity for litigation funders.

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If you want to stay up-to-date with what is going on with non-recourse litigation funding, Wild Dog serves as a trusted advisor to attorneys and their clients who are exploring litigation financing. So follow our Linkedin Page for the latest updates on?https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/wild-dog-mu ?or visit our website?https://wilddog.mu ?for more.