H.R. 3945 has been introduced in Congress to create a small claims court for copyright infringement cases. If you have dealt with copyright issues, you know that contingency attorneys will not pursue small-time cases as there is little profit involved for them. Since these small cases make up the majority of infringements, it leaves most creators out of realistic options (a Federal case costs, on average, more than $200,000 to complete). The Bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3945/all-actions?r=11&overview=closed There is a form where you can send your congressman/representative a message to support this bill: http://cqrcengage.com/ppaworld/app/write-a-letter?2&engagementId=220193#.Wdv3THyeUQo.twitter Some news articles: http://copyrightalliance.org/ca_post/small-claims-on-the-horizon/ https://nppa.org/news/house-bill-introduced-copyright-small-claims https://petapixel.com/2017/10/05/house-bill-introduced-copyright-small-claims/
This is great news as it will make the process of filing the claims easier and thus, those who file counter claims to youtube claims much more of a target for the so called fair use shock video that has no basis of fair use in the video. I see a new opportunity for content creators to go after video pirates (one of our videos alone has almost 700 matches on Youtube CMS) that try to game the system and settle out out of court.
I am assuming it will go through, since "all" copyright interests will be included. The problem with past attempts at such legislation was that only photographic interests were involved and they did not have big time support. Now you add the music and publishing industry who have big time lobbyists. The only problem I see are the zillions of claims that will be filled. It could take years for the process to work. However, I'm assuming the majority of offenders will settle out of court. One suggestion, make sure all of your material is copyrighted before the law is passed. There could be some issues in the process with material not registered, or registering old material after the law passes. Also make sure to document infringements ASAP, before offenders remove them. I'll bet you see all kinds of offenders squirming like crazy if this goes through. Videos and images will fly off the Internet at warp speed.
The good thing about this is the rampant piracy on Youtube and Facebook where they require a lawsuit filed in local federal jurisdiction and in the case of Youtube, that is in San Francisco for the Federal Court and it is a pain in the... for the oversea's pirates to do but can be done for them. If this streamlines the system, a lot of people that have been making a living off pirating material are soon going to be out of a scam.
Nothing new yet. Apparently it has been introduced in the House of Representatives and needs to be voted on to get to the next step (Senate). When that happens is anyone's guess. The good news is that it has bipartisan support if it can make it to a vote. The progress can be tracked here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3945/actions
Important: call-to-action: If you are interested in seeing this bill pass, please consider contacting your representative. This web site allows you to generate an email to your state's representative encouraging their support. It takes 30 seconds to do it, and it will make a difference! http://copyrightdefense.com/action
H.R. 3945 goes to committee vote on Wednesday, April 11! Please consider contacting your representative here: http://PPA.com/SmallClaims
