ther "the copyright owner's actual damages and any additional profits
of the infringer," or statutory damages. Recovery of actual damages and
profits under section 504 (b) or of statutory damages under section 504
(c) is alternative and for the copyright owner to elect; as under the
present law, the plaintiff in an infringement suit is not obliged to
submit proof of damages and profits and may choose to rely on the
provision for minimum statutory damages. However, there is nothing in
section 504 to prevent a court from taking account of evidence
concerning actual damages and profits in making an award of statutory
damages within the range set out in subsection (c).

*Actual damages and profits*

In allowing the plaintiff to recover "the actual damages suffered by him
or her as a result of the infringement," plus any of the infringer's
profits "that are attributable to the infringement and are not taken
into account in computing the actual damages," section 504 (b)
recognizes the different purposes served by awards of damages and
profits. Damages are awarded to compensate the copyright owner for
losses from the infringement, and profits are awarded to prevent the
infringer from unfairly benefiting from a wrongful act.***

*Statutory damages*

Subsection (c) of section 504 makes clear that the plaintiff's election
to recover statutory damages may take place at any time during the trial
before the court has rendered its final judgment. The remainder of
clause (1) of the subsection represents a statement of the general rates
applicable to awards of statutory damages.

Clause (2) of section 504 (c) provides for exceptional cases in which
the maximum award of statutory damages could be raised from $10,000 to
$50,000, and in which the minimum recovery could be reduced from $250 to
$100. The basic principle underlying this provision is that the courts
should be given discretion to increase statutory damages in cases of
willful infringement and to lower the minimum where the infringer is
innocent. The language of the clause makes clear that in these
situations the burden of proving willfulness rests on the copyright
owner and that of proving innocence rests on the infringer, and that
the court must make a finding of either willfulness or innocence in
order to award the exceptional amounts.

The "innocent infringer" provision of section 504(c)(2) has been the
subject of extensive discussion. The exception, which would allow