WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on

Thursday ruled in favor of a Miami music producer in a legal

fight with Warner Music ( WMG ) over a song by rapper Flo Rida,

resolving a dispute over the time limit for claiming monetary

damages in copyright cases.

The 6-3 ruling, authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan,

affirmed a lower court's decision that favored producer Sherman

Nealy, who sued a Warner subsidiary and others in Florida

federal court in 2018.

Nealy has said that his label Music Specialist owns rights

to the electronic dance song "Jam the Box" by Tony Butler, also

known as Pretty Tony. Warner artist Flo Rida, whose given name

is Tramar Dillard, incorporated elements of "Jam the Box" into

his 2008 song "In the Ayer."

Nealy sued music publishing company Warner Chappell and

others, arguing that they took an invalid license to "Jam the

Box" from Butler, his former business partner, while Nealy was

incarcerated for cocaine distribution. The producer requested

damages for alleged copyright infringement dating back to 2008.

A federal judge decided that Nealy could recover damages

only for infringement that happened during the three years

before he filed the lawsuit, based on the U.S. statute of

limitations for bringing a copyright-infringement case after

discovering a claim. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court

of Appeals reversed that decision and said there was "no bar to

damages in a timely action."

The Supreme Court upheld the 11th Circuit's ruling on

Thursday.

"The Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to recover

damages for any timely claim," Kagan wrote, referring to the

1976 federal law at issue in the case.

During Supreme Court arguments in February, some of the

justices indicated they could not decide the case before

reconsidering the issue of statute of limitations in a separate

dispute before them. The justices are currently deliberating

whether to take up the "discovery rule" in a copyright dispute

between Hearst Newspapers and photographer Antonio Martinelli.

"What concerns me is that we are being asked to decide a

question that may be eliminated based on a subsequent decision"

on whether the "discovery rule" applies, conservative Justice

Samuel Alito said during the arguments.

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch echoed Alito's statements

in a dissenting opinion on Thursday that was joined by Alito and

Justice Clarence Thomas.