On July 18, 2019, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed S. 1273, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (CASE Act), legislation that will provide U.S. creators with a viable means for defending their copyrighted works through the creation of a small claims tribunal within the U.S. Copyright Office.
The legislation creates a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office that will provide copyright owners with an alternative to the expensive process of bringing copyright claims, including infringement and misrepresentation under 512(f), in federal court. This new board, called the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), would allow recovery in each case of up to $30,000 in damages total, with a cap of $15,000 in statutory damages per work infringed.
Whether you share an LOL cat or a picture of AOC trying to use a garbage disposal, it mayl not matter.
If someone holds a copyright to the photo you are sharing, they can take you to court and you can be forced to pay up to $15,000….
Have you ever shared a meme that you didn’t make? Or downloaded a photo you saw on social media? If Congress has its way, you could soon get slapped with a $15,000 fine by copyright trolls––with no chance of appeal––just for doing normal stuff on the Internet. These trolls buy up copyrights with the sole intent of sending out mass threats and lawsuits to harvest settlements. Now, a dangerous new bill called the Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act is sailing through Congress to make it easier for everyone from trolls to Hollywood producers to sue you. And it just slipped through a Senate Committee, clearing the way for a full Senate vote.
EFF.org sums it up pretty well…
More Automatic Civil Penalties, No Need to Show Harm
The bill would make copyright’s already unfair and unpredictable civil penalty regime even worse. Current law lets courts award civil penalties, known as statutory damages, of up to $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed. These penalties go to the copyright holder, but aren’t tied to any measure of actual harm. In fact, copyright holders don’t have to introduce any evidence at all to show that they were harmed by an infringement (or that the infringer profited). Statutory damage awards vary wildly from one case to the next, making copyright lawsuits a game of financial Russian roulette for defendants.
I’d highly suggest you read the entire EFF article, because it is the best explanation I have found.
Soon they will destroy the internet for all of us, if we don’t find a way to stop them.
That has been the plan from the beginning I’m afraid.
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