503. Remedies for infringement: Impounding and disposition of infringing articles

This statute allows the court to order the seizure of any articles that are alleged to infringe a copyright (in a lawsuit). If the court finds in a final judgment that infringement occurred, it may order that the articles be destroyed.

At any time while an action under this title is pending, the court may order the impounding, on such terms as it may deem reasonable, of all copies or phonorecords claimed to have been made, or used in violation of the copyright’s owner’s exclusive rights, and of all plates, molds, matrices, masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such copies or phonorecords may be reproduced.
As part of a final judgment or decree, the court may order the destruction or other reasonable disposition of all copies or phonorecords found to have been made or used in violation of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, and of all plates, molds, matrices, masters, tapes, film negatives, or other articles by means of which such copies or phonorecords may be reproduced.