By: Derek Hawkins//June 25, 2018//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Alliance for Water Efficiency v. James Fryer
Case No.: 17-1326
Officials: RIPPLE, MANION, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Breach of Settlement
James Fryer and the Alliance for Water Efficiency set out to produce a study about drought. Unfortunately, the collaboration ran dry, and the Alliance sued Fryer under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 et seq. The lawsuit proved to be far less troublesome than the ensuing settlement. While the parties were supposed to part ways and publish their own reports, they instead find themselves in the fourth year of protracted litigation.
The parties’ disputes center on their obligations under the settlement. Years ago the district court ordered Fryer to turn over certain data sets to the Alliance and refrain from acknowledging a number of organizations in his study. On appeal we reversed solely on the acknowledgment issue. Alliance for Water Efficiency v. Fryer, 808 F.3d 1153 (7th Cir. 2015). Fryer then returned to the district court and sought restitution for injuries caused by the court’s erroneous injunction. He also moved for attorney’s fees under § 505 of the Copyright Act for having prevailed in the first appeal. A magistrate judge denied both motions and Fryer appealed.
We affirm. Fryer does not present genuine claims for restitution; he seeks to relitigate unrelated claims for breach of the settlement. His request for attorney’s fees is also unsuccessful because he did not prevail on the Alliance’s copyright claim as § 505 requires. The parties compromised their positions, obtained some relief, and walked away from the underlying lawsuit. At no time has any court entered judgment on the Alliance’s copyright claim.
Affirmed