​Sarah Fink (Of Counsel-Long Island, NY) and Wisaal Jahangir (Associate-New York, NY)​ secured a favorable resolution in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, successfully settling a federal copyright infringement action against their high-end luxury hotel client that had gone bankrupt since the alleged violation. The plaintiff, a photographer, sought relief under the U.S. Copyright Act, including actual damages and disgorgement of profits (or, in the alternative, statutory damages per alleged infringement), injunctive relief, litigation costs and attorneys’ fees, and pre-judgment interest. Statutory damages under the Act can reach up to $30,000 per work for non-willful infringement and up to $150,000 per work for willful infringement. Sarah and Wisaal’s primary argument was that the plaintiff could not show any profits from the violation, given that the hotel went out of business, leveraging the fact that statutory damages generally approximate actual damages, and that damages in copyright cases include profits to the defendant. Arguing that the plaintiff’s initial demand of $40,000 was therefore unreasonable, Wilson Elser resolved the matter for $10,000, closing the case on terms advantageous to the client.