In the case of John C. Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., 1993, the U.S Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of musician John Fogerty, former lead singer of Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). The dispute arose when Fantasy Inc., which owned the rights to CCR's music catalog, sued Fogerty for copyright infringement over his solo song "The Old Man Down The Road," claiming it was too similar to a previous CCR song "Run Through The Jungle." After winning this initial lawsuit and proving no copyright violation occurred, Fogerty sought reimbursement for attorney fees under Copyright Act provision that allows courts discretion in awarding costs to prevailing parties. Lower courts denied his request on grounds that he was both plaintiff and defendant at different stages of litigation process. However, Supreme Court overturned these decisions stating there should be no discrimination between plaintiffs and defendants when considering fee awards under Copyright Act; hence ruling that successful defense against an accusation is as important as successfully prosecuting one.

In the dissenting opinion for Fogerty v. Fantasy, Inc., Justice Blackmun argued that the majority's decision to reject a dual standard in favor of an evenhanded approach was misguided. He contended that this ruling could potentially discourage copyright holders from litigating valid claims due to fear of having to pay attorney fees if they lose. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's view that there is no evidence Congress intended a dual standard when it enacted Section 505 of Copyright Act; instead, he believed legislative history suggested otherwise. In his view, adopting an evenhanded approach would not serve justice or further statutory objectives as effectively as maintaining a dual standard where prevailing plaintiffs are awarded attorney’s fees more readily than prevailing defendants.