On December 27, 2020, outgoing president Donald Trump signed into law the CASE Act. CASE, which stands for Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement, is part of the gargantuan, $1.4 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. In short, the act establishes a copyright small claims system that lets creatives take action against people who misuse or steal their work without having to hire an expensive attorney or bring their case to a federal court.
Most copyright infringements in the United States are valued at five figures or fewer, which is small potatoes to pricey copyright lawyers — they generally take on infringement cases that number in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.
The bill was first introduced in 2019. At the time, the National Press Photographers Association’s General Counsel, Mickey Osterreicher, explained the legislation to PetaPixel:
People will still be able to pursue infringement cases in federal court, but this is for individuals who cannot afford that expense. The small claims copyright tribunal may be a viable alternative when seeking a small licensing fee or [for photographers] wishing to represent themselves.
Instead of going through the trouble of filing a federal lawsuit, photographers can now bring their case to a Copyright Claims Board within the U.S. Copyright Office. The board, a three-person panel of copyright law experts, would have the ability to award photographers as much as $15,000 per work and $30,000 per claim, as long as the works are registered with the office.
Unregistered photos would pay out only as much as $7,500 per work and $15,000 per claim.
Note: This does not eliminate the possibility of small claims cases ending up federal court. Once a claim is filed, the accused infringer has 60 days to reject it and force the matter into federal court. Any Claims Board decision can also be appealed in federal court.
The legislation garnered widespread (and surprising) bipartisan support throughout Congress and was passed by a 410-6 vote in the House of Representatives. Since being signed into law, CASE has (mostly) been praised by the creative industry. Here’s a statement from the Copyright Alliance championing the legislation:
The CASE Act has been a critical legislative priority for hundreds of thousands of photographers, illustrators, graphic artists, songwriters, authors, bloggers, YouTubers, and many other creators and small businesses across the country. For far too long, these individual creators have had rights but no means of enforcing them due to the expense and complexity of federal court.
Now, those same creators have an easier path toward just compensation for their work.
To learn more about how to register your copyright, check out Honore Brown’s step-by-step guide. Honore also hosted a discussion about registering your copyright in our Member Open House.
To view the full, 63-page description of the CASE Act within the COVID-19 relief bill, click here.