On Dec. 12, 2007, the U.S. District Court in Nashville issued its final opinion in the TWHBEA v. NWHA lawsuit. The Court ruled in TWHBEA’s favor on its claim of copyright infringement. The Court explicitly held that NWHA’s infringement of TWHBEA’s Registry was willful. It also ordered NWHA to return all TWHBEA certificates in its possession, awarded damages of $31,000, invited TWHBEA to apply for its attorney fees and enjoined NWHA from soliciting TWHBEA certificates in the future.

This is a strong victory for TWHBEA and reaffirms the Court’s summary judgment decision on the copyright claim from January 2007, in TWHBEA’s favor. The final paragraph of the Order states:

             
On the copyright claim, Plaintiff is awarded statutory damages in the amount of $31,000. In addition, Defendant is enjoined from soliciting or referring to the TWHBEA Registry, TWHBEA Certificates, or TWHBEA registration numbers through its applications or web sites. The Defendant is not enjoined from requesting pedigree information from an applicant where that information does not refer to the TWHBEA Registry, TWHBEA Certificates, or TWHBEA registration numbers. Defendant shall return to the respective owners any TWHBEA Certificates contained in its files, along with all prior applications, and may permit those members to reapply for membership using an application form that complies with this Memorandum and accompanying Order.