17 USC §504 says otherwise: ... the copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits

17 USC §504 says otherwise: ... the copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of actual damages and profits, an award of statutory damages for all infringements ... in a sum of not less than $750 or more than $30,000. ... in a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000. <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/504 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/504> The issue isn't contract. It's copyright infringement.