In the US, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (the CASE Act) is a proposed United States law that would establish a small claims court-type system within the United States Copyright Office for copyright owners to seek damages under US$30,000 for copyright violations. The measure was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on May 1, 2019, and was passed in the House on October 22, 2019. An identical version was introduced in the United States Senate on May 1, 2019. The CASE Act, along with two other IP-related bills, were included as part of a omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief bill in December 2020.
CASE Act establishes a Copyright Claims Board within the Copyright Office. The Claims Board would act as a mediator to copyright claims filed by any copyright holder, including for claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, replacing the need for a federal court for copyright infringement cases. This panel would be made up of three members of the Copyright Office and two other attorneys knowledgeable in copyright law. For works registered for copyright, the maximum statutory damage would be US$15,000 per work and US$30,000 per claim, while unregistered copyrighted works are eligible for half those amounts. The Claims Board may also issue other lesser penalties such as notice to cease infringement.
The process is opt-out; once a claim is filed, all parties have a sixty day period to respond in which they may reject the use of the Claims Board, in which case the case would then be required to be heard in federal courts. Otherwise, once parties have agreed to the process and filed all counterclaims, the Claims Board will make a final determination and assessment of penalty. The Claims Board are non-binding and allow for appeals in federal courts though the determinations of the Claims Board cannot be vacated or modified save for exceptional cases. This method is not available to seek damages against infringement from federal or state governments or from foreign entities, nor for claims established in pending cases.
The bipartisan legislation was supported by groups such as the Copyright Alliance, Professional Photographers of America, American Society of Media Photographers, International Authors Forum, the Authors Guild, the Graphic Artists Guild, the NAACP, AFL-CIO, the American Conservative Union, the American Bar Association, as well as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and thousands of independent creators and small businesses across the United States. Proponents of the bill support the Copyright Office’s findings that the small claims tribunal will provide a more financially accessible alternative to federal court, and will enable creators to protect their copyrighted material more effectively. Additionally, the small claims court would be able to pass judgement on whether or not use of a copyrighted work constitutes fair use, protecting good-faith users from litigious retribution.
