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Under the Copyright Act, a registered copyright owner can elect to recover statutory damages for infringement instead of actual damages, which can be difficult to prove. Section 412 of the Copyright Act, however, limits the availability of statutory damages for pre-registration infringement. In Derek Andrew v. Poof Apparel, 528 F.3d 696, (9th Cir. 2008), the Ninth Circuit court joins the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Circuit courts in barring statutory damages for ongoing infringement -- continuing infringement that occurs both pre- and post-registration.