17 U.S.C. § 505
Section 505 · Remedies for infringement: Costs and attorneys fees
This is § 101 of the Copyright Act of 1976
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 947 court decisions — leading case Fogerty Fantasy Inc (1994)
Most recently applied in InfoDeli, LLC v. Western Robidoux, Inc. (May 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (94 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 17 U.S.C. § 504 · 17 U.S.C. § 101 · 17 U.S.C. § 502
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In any civil action under this title, the court in its discretion may allow the recovery of full costs by or against any party other than the United States or an officer thereof. Except as otherwise provided by this title, the court may also award a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Under section 505 the awarding of costs and attorney's fees are left to the court's discretion, and the section also makes clear that neither costs nor attorney's fees can be awarded to or against “the United States or an officer thereof.”
Cross References
Acts of infringement—
Making and distributing phonorecords, see section 115 of this title.
Secondary transmission of primary transmission, see section 111 of this title.
Costs against United States generally, see section 2412 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, and rule 54 of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Title 28, Appendix.
Registration as prerequisite for award of attorney's fees, see section 412 of this title.
Taxation of costs, see section 1920 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Works consisting of sounds, images, or both, the first fixation of which is made simultaneously with its transmission, as subject to this section, although not yet registered, see section 411 of this title.