DRK Photo v. McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC

Issues: (1) Whether an assignee of an accrued claim who is not a legal or beneficial owner of a copyright has standing to sue for infringement, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled in Prather v. Neva Paperbacks, Inc., or does not have standing as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled in Silvers v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.; (2) whether an unequivocal transfer of copyright ownership, together with accrued claims, is effective to give the transferee the statutory right to sue as legal owner of the copyright, even when the purpose of the transfer is to facilitate an infringement action; and (3) whether “beneficial owner,” which the Copyright Act does not define, extends to an assignee of accrued claims who has pre-existing interests in the copyright and is injured by infringement.