HSW Secures $75 Million Jury Verdict for Post University in Landmark Copyright Suit

March 6, 2026

A Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler LLP trial team has secured a historic $75.3 million verdict for Post University in its copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) lawsuit against Learneo Inc., the operator of file-sharing platform Course Hero.

The verdict, returned after a nine-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, represents a significant victory for copyright owners confronting online platforms that host and distribute materials without proper authorization from the copyright owners.

After 14 hours of deliberation, the jury found Learneo liable for thousands of DMCA violations relating to the removal and replacement of copyright management information from Post University’s academic materials. Jurors assessed the maximum statutory damages of $25,000 per violation, totaling more than $75.3 million.

Post University’s 2021 lawsuit alleged Course Hero facilitated the unauthorized uploading and distribution of Post’s copyright-protected and proprietary course materials, including exams, assignments, syllabi and other instructional documents, and hid those materials behind a paywall to prevent copyright holders like Post from policing their works.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Course Hero hosts more than 90 million documents uploaded by tens of millions of users across more than 50,000 schools. Post University alleged that the platform’s design made it difficult for rights holders to police their intellectual property while enabling the widespread distribution of protected educational materials. Post University’s expert testimony identified nearly 300,000 potential DMCA violations across the nearly 3,000 documents at issue.

The verdict follows several earlier pretrial victories for Post University, including a 2024 ruling granting access to key evidence related to Learneo’s claimed DMCA compliance and a 2025 ruling denying Learneo’s motion for summary judgment and allowing Post’s copyright, DMCA and Lanham Act claims to proceed to trial.

HSW partner Yonaton Aronoff served as trial counsel for Post University alongside co-counsel Timothy Johnson of Getz Balich LLC. The HSW team also included partner Alisha McCarthy, counsel Jaclyn Newman and Ashley Robinson, and associate Hetali Sheth.