This is a friendly message from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

While there are real problems with copyright law in the United States, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) won’t fix any of them and will actually incentivize copyright trolls.

Stop Copyright Trolling

The bill would invite gamesmanship and abuse, magnify the existing problem of copyright’s unpredictable civil penalties, and would put a new group—and not a court of law—in charge of determining DMCA abuses. The CASE Act would allow "Claims Officers” at the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. to hear cases involving copyright claims. A quasi-judicial body would therefore have the ability to issue damages awards of up to $15,000 per work infringed or $30,000 per proceeding and agreements which boil down to binding injunctions.

Copyright by its very nature affects free speech, and this proposal simply doesn’t protect it. Instead, it creates an environment ripe for copyright trolls and heavily favors the side claiming to have a valid copyright.

Write your senators today and urge them to stand against the CASE Act.

Thank you,

Katharine Trendacosta

Activism Team | Electronic Frontier Foundation

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