Opinion ID: 215224
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prevailing Party Status and Reasonableness

Text: LAMCO also challenges ASCAP's status as a prevailing party and the reasonableness of the fee award. Both challenges fail. Section 505 permits courts, in their discretion, to award reasonable attorneys' fees to the prevailing party. 17 U.S.C. § 505 (2006); Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 510 U.S. 517, 535, 114 S.Ct. 1023, 127 L.Ed.2d 455 (1994). A prevailing party is one who has `prevailed on the merits of at least some claims,' Torres-Negrón v. J & N Records, LLC, 504 F.3d 151, 164 (1st Cir.2007) (quoting Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. W. Va. Dep't of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598, 603, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001)), no matter whether the plaintiff or the defendant prevailed. See Fogerty, 510 U.S. at 535, 114 S.Ct. 1023. A showing of frivolity or bad faith is not required; rather, the prevailing party need only show that its opponent's copyright claims or defenses were `objectively weak.' Latin Am. Music Co., 629 F.3d at 263 (quoting García-Goyco v. Law Envtl. Consultants, Inc., 428 F.3d 14, 20 (1st Cir.2005)). Our review of a fee award to a prevailing party is extremely deferential. García-Goyco, 428 F.3d at 22. We will disturb a ruling under section 505 only if the record persuades us that the trial court indulged in a serious lapse in judgment. Id. (quoting Lotus Dev. Corp. v. Borland Int'l, Inc., 140 F.3d 70, 72 (1st Cir.1998)). There is no question that ASCAP is a prevailing party. It initially obtained summary judgment on LAMCO's infringement claims. We affirmed that ruling in significant part, but remanded because of disputed facts concerning one song. On remand ASCAP obtained a favorable jury verdict at trial and successfully defended that verdict in a later appeal. ASCAP then sought attorneys' fees in the district court and submitted detailed billing records establishing the reasonableness of its request. Based on its discretion and the weakness of LAMCO's claims, the court awarded ASCAP a majority of those fees. We have carefully reviewed ASCAP's documentation and the court's rescript, and are satisfied that all aspects of the fee award fall comfortably within the court's discretion.