An Intriguing Proposal: a “Small Claims Court” for Copyright?

A group called American Photographic Artists has proposed a very intriguing idea: the notion of  air max 270 femme a more efficient and nimble procedure by which federal courts could consider relatively small copyright infringement cases, which is being referred to loosely as a “small claims court” specifically for copyright.

As the overview of the APA’s proposal notes, “Copyright owners are restricted to the federal courts, which enjoy sole jurisdiction over all copyright matters arising under Title 17, United States Code, regardless of their size or complexity.”

As any rights-holder who has initiated copyright infringement litigation can tell you, it’s an expensive, arduous and daunting process, facts that serve to deter a lot of rights-holders from filing suit in the first place, even when the infringement at issue is clear and easily proven.

The APA envisions a means by which smaller copyright claims (loosely defined in the proposal as cases in which the plaintiff seeks to “recover no more than $80,000”) could be heard in an expedited way that would lead to a quick resolution of the rights-holder’s grievance.http://www.yeezyboostadidas.fr

“Copyright owners will thereby be spared the Hobson’s choice of either giving up their meritorious claims or else being forced to spend more to vindicate those claims than they are actually worth,” the APA states in its proposal. “Those charged with copyright infringement equally stand to benefit, by the promulgation of equitable standards that will quickly move many cases to settle fairly and resolve the balance economically, with a substantial savings of judicial resources. Finally, the nation as a whole should benefit by fulfilling its mandate to afford “equal justice under law” to citizens perched on all rungs of the economic ladder.”

Whatever your opinion of the current state of copyright law and copyright litigation, the APA’s proposal is worthy of consideration. You can read the proposal in its entirety here.