The Graphic Artists Guild https://graphicartistsguild.org/
shared a CASE Act/Small Claims court update on their Facebook page. Getting the CASE Act passed took a lot of time and effort. Expect some bumps in the road as this long-awaited law rolls out. NOW is the time to follow its progress and add your voice. Early cases will begin to build precedent.
Here is the link: https://graphicartistsguild.org/copyright-small-claims-advocate-for-fair-fees/?fbclid=
Here is most of the text from the GAG post:
"21
Oct Copyright Small Claims: Advocate for Fair Fees
in "Advocacy," " Advocacy Alert," "Copyright," "News: by The Graphic Artists Guild
NOTE: The Copyright Office has extended the deadline for comments to November 12th.
The Copyright Office has been working to implement the CASE Act, the recently passed legislation which establishes a copyright small claims tribunal. The Office has been issuing Notices of Proposed Rulemakings (NPRM), outlining the rules and procedures guiding the Copyright Claims Board, and requesting feedback from stakeholders. However, their latest NPRM proposed a fee and process which we find troubling for individual creators. We’re asking creators to please respond to the Copyright Offices NPRM with a comment letter by the deadline of November 12th.
Why
the Fee Structure is Unfair
When a copyright holder initiates a claim in the CCB, the respondent – the individual they are bringing to the CCB for a copyright infringement – has the opportunity to opt out of the CCB proceedings. (In that case the copyright holder can elect to bring the case to federal court.) The Copyright Office has proposed a filing fee of $100 to initiate a claim. However, if the respondent decides to opt out of the CCB proceeding, by the process proposed by the Copyright Office, the claimant is out that entire fee.
We think this proposed filing fee process is cost prohibitive and will deter individual artists from using the CCB. We’re particularly concerned that those filing claims will lose the entire $100 filing fee. Instead, we support the proposal for a split filing fee process: the individual filing a claim initially pays a fee of $25. If the respondent does not opt out of the CCB process, the remainder of the fee, $75, is charged to proceed with the copyright small claims case.
Contact
the Copyright Office
We’re asking creators and copyright holders to please contact the Copyright Office by submitting a short comment letter on the NPRM by end of day on November 12th. Submit your comments at the NPRM portal, and be sure to follow the Copyright Office’s submission guidelines. You can submit comments of less than 5,000 characters – we recommend a short comment letter – in the comments field of their online form. Be sure to identify yourself as a creator (a designer, illustrator, etc.) in your comments. Your comments should include:
The
drawbacks of a flat $100/claim filing fee to you as an individual
creator/copyright owner;
the
unlikelihood of your use of the new copyright small claims court if the flat
fee structure is in place;
the
benefits to you as an individual creator/copyright owner if a tiered fee
structure were adopted, whereby claimants would pay a smaller fee to file a
claim and then a larger fee once the other party does not opt out and the case
becomes active."
More on the CASE Act here on the blog:
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2019/10/case-act-yes-vote-in-house-now-on-to.html
graphic below from this post by IPCloseup.com https://ipcloseup.com/2019/11/04/bill-establishing-a-small-claims-court-for-copyright-holders-aces-house-410-6-eff-others-not-pleased/
