Southern Credentialing filed suit claiming that Hammond’s ongoing use of credentialing forms infringed Southern Credentialing’s copyrights. The district court granted summary judgment as to the existence of the copyrights and infringement, granting damages, attorney’s fees and costs, as well as an injunction barring Hammond from infringing the copyrights. Both parties appealed.

The Fifth Circuit held that Southern Credentialing has valid copyrights protecting the selection and arrangement of information in its credentialing forms. The court also held that the district court correctly concluded that Hammond infringed valid copyrights of Southern Credentialing and thus the court affirmed the permanent injunction barring future infringement.

The court held that 17 U.S.C. 412 bars statutory damage awards when a defendant violates one of the six exclusive rights of a copyright holder preregistration and violates a different right in the same work after registration. In this case, although Southern Credentialing was unable to obtain statutory damages, it has obtained an injunction that will protect against future infringement. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for entry of an amended judgment. View “Southern Credentialing Support Services, LLC v. Hammond Surgical Hospital, LLC” on Justia Law