Martin Allen Fine, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Tom Petty; Jeff Lynne; Mike Campbell; Sbk April Musicinc. Warner Brothers Music Corp; Gone Gatormusic, Defendants-appellants,andmca Records Inc., Defendant.martin Allen Fine, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Tom Petty; Jeff Lynne; Mike Campbell, Defendants,andmca Records Inc., et al. Defendants-appellants, 35 F.3d 570 (9th Cir. 1994)

Before: TANG and HALL, Circuit Judges, and SHUBB,^**  District Judge

ORDER

This case is hereby resubmitted for decision as of August 11, 1994.

Defendants appeal the district court's denial of their motions for attorney's fees. Their fee requests were based in part on 17 U.S.C. § 505. When the district court denied these requests for fees, "controlling authority in this circuit held that attorney's fees were unavailable to a defendant under Sec. 505 unless the plaintiff's action was frivolous or in bad faith." Jackson v. Hoyt, 25 F.3d 884, 890 (9th Cir. 1994). Since that time, the Supreme Court has rejected this standard. See Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 114 S. Ct. 1023 (1994). Now, courts determining whether to grant attorney's fees are to exercise "equitable discretion ... 'in light of the considerations [the Court has previously] identified.' " Id. at 1033.

The present standard gives the district court greater discretion than it had when it initially denied these motions. Jackson, 25 F.3d at 890. Accordingly, we REMAND this case to the district court for further proceedings.

Appellee's request for sanctions is DENIED.