On October 22, the U.S. Copyright Office released a "Key Statistics" report on the Copyright Claims Board. The Board was established under the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act), passed by Congress in December 2020 and signed into law by President Donald Trump. The Board serves as a voluntary, virtual forum for resolving disputes over alleged copyright infringement claims where the damage amount in controversy is $30,000 or less. Both sides must agree to resolve their dispute at the Board, and its decisions are enforceable in federal court.
According to the information provided by the Copyright Office, as of September 2024, nearly 1,000 claims have been filed with the Copyright Claims Board. Also, 63% of such claims involved self-represented individuals, and 46% of the cases were for smaller damages of less than $5,000.
The Board appears to be performing a useful function by providing copyright owners with a cost-effective venue to protect and enforce their intellectual property (IP) rights in creative works, such as photos, movies, and music recordings. For a copyright owner to hire an attorney and bring an infringement case in federal court, he or she typically must be willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars.
Free State Foundation President Randolph May and I recommended the creation of such a small claims venue in our book Modernizing Copyright Law: Constitutional Foundations for Reform (Carolina Academic Press, 2020).
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