Congress Passes CASE Act

Bill Passes, On To Senate

Congress has passed the CASE Act of 2019 ("Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act") by a 410-6 vote on TUESDAY (10/22), allowing copyright holders the ability to bring claims over copyright disputes to a new Copyright Claims Board in the Copyright Office. A Senate version of the bill remains pending.

The bill has been welcomed by companies in the content industry but has been criticized by the ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION and AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION over its limited rights to appeal and potential for companies and copyright holders to chill free expression by using the "small claims" process to hit Internet users who share a meme and inadvertently infringe on a copyright with penalties. Under the bill proposed by Rep. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), content owners can sue in the tribunal for up to $15,000 per infringed work and $30,000 total.

The RECORDING ACADEMY had a positive reaction to Congress' vote, with Chief Industry, Government, & Member Relations Officer DARYL FRIEDMAN saying that it "applauds the House for passing the CASE Act today, another victory for music creators almost exactly a year after the Music Modernization Act was signed into law. We also thank the nearly 2,000 RECORDING ACADEMY members who lobbied their legislators this month for the CASE Act.  We now look to the Senate and the WHITE HOUSE to get this bill into law and ensure music makers have access to the copyright protection they deserve."

« see more Net News