The CASE Act became law in December 2020. (image below from the Graphic Artists Guild)
The CASE Act is a small claims court option for artists to fight art theft and copyright infringement. CASE is the acronym for Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims. The law is partially based on an existing small claims court option in the UK that artists there have been happy with. The CASE Act bill was backed by a number of indie artist professional organizations such as the Graphic Artists Guild (GAG) https://graphicartistsguild.org/ The Copyright Alliance https://copyrightalliance.org/ and the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). https://www.ppa.com/
It was a bill I'd been following for some time.
You can see some history of the CASE ACT in this post here on the blog: http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/10/case-act-yes-vote-in-house-now-on-to.html
The good news for indie artists is that if your art is stolen, this new law gives you a small claims court option to fight infringers and collect a settlement. Prior to the CASE Act, copyright cases could only be resolved through the costly and slow federal courts. The CASE Act provides a faster, small claims court option. The CASE Act should put some teeth into take-down notices, etc.
As with all new laws, it will take some time... and some cases... for the law to get the kinks worked out.
What should you be doing right now to protect your artWORK??
Register your copyrights!!
You really don't have a legal case for art theft without this step. Registering your copyrights assures you the greatest legal protections.
UPDATE 7.21
Copyright office announces appointment of CASE Act claims board officers
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2021/07/case-act-copyright-office-announces.html
Here are some links to recent articles/website sources about the new CASE Act law.
Graphic Artists Guild
12.22.20 "Graphic Artist Guild Applauds Passage of the CASE Act" https://graphicartistsguild.org/the-graphic-artists-guild-applauds-the-passage-of-the-case-act/?fbclid=
12.28.20 "What's Next for CASE Act" https://graphicartistsguild.org/case-act-update-whats-next-for-a-small-claims-tribunal/?fbclid=
Copyright Alliance
https://copyrightalliance.org/
12.22.20 "CAC Commends Congress for Passing CASE Act"https://copyrightalliance.org/press-releases/copyright-alliance-commends-congress-for-passing-the-case-act-and-the-protecting-lawful-streaming-act-as-part-of-the-consolidated-appropriations-act-2021/
Bloomberg Law article via firm Kirkland and Ellis
2.3.21 "How to Navigate the new Copyright Small Claims Court" https://www.kirkland.com/publications/article/2021/02/how-to-navigate-the-new-copyright-small-claims-cou
Oct 2019 post here on the blog reviews steps in progress from bill to law.
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/10/case-act-yes-vote-in-house-now-on-to.html
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