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Copyright Crash Course

The Copyright Claims Board (CCB) is a tribunal that was established when the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was signed into law at the end of 2020. The CCB is meant to handle "small claims" copyright cases, and is operated through the U.S. Copyright Office rather than the federal judicial branch. Damages for CCB cases are capped at $15,000 per work or a total limit of $30,000 per case. The proceedings will take place remotely and claimants and respondents will not need to travel to the CCB offices in Washington, D.C.

This page will be updated over time, but you should refer to the Copyright Claims Board website for the most up to date information.

If you live in Wisconsin, then a genuine CCB claim notice is generally required to be "served" to you either in-person or by U.S. mail. If you have received only an email, you should be wary of its contents because email is not considered valid "service of process" in Wisconsin, except in rare circumstances. A genuine CCB case notice will include a docket number and other information. The notice will have a link to the CCB website where you can enter the docket number on your notice, view information about the particular claim filed against you, and take various actions.

A claim filed against you means that a purported copyright owner is asserting that you have infringed their copyright. The notice does not mean you have actually infringed or that the CCB will ultimately determine you have infringed. There are several reasons why your use of a copyrighted work may not be an infringement, most notably fair use and certain classroom uses. It's also possible that the works in question are either not copyrighted or the copyright is not held by the claimant.

 

If you receive a properly served notice - do not ignore it! If you ignore it, the case will proceed in the CCB and default judgment can be entered against you (potentially up to $30,000).

To avoid default judgment you need to respond within the time frame prescribed in the notice and take one of two actions:

  1. Proceed with the CCB tribunal. If you choose this option you will be bound by the CCB's decision. There are only limited circumstances - such as fraud, corruption, and misrepresentation - when a CCB determination can be reviewed by a federal court or the Copyright Office.
  2. Opt-out of the CCB proceeding. If you opt-out, the copyright claimant cannot restart the same claim against you in front of the CCB. That means if you opt-out, the claimant will either need to stop pursuing the matter, or file suit against you in federal court (assuming they meet all the federal court filing requirements). Federal court is more expensive and complex than the CCB's process, so many claimants may not wish to incur the expense or may feel their allegations will not survive scrutiny in federal court. If you decide to opt-out, you must mail in the paper form provided with your notice or complete an online opt-out form on the CCB website within 60 days of service. Your opt-out applies only to that specific claim and does not opt you out of all future CCB cases.

This page is based on a guide created by UC Berkeley which was licensed with a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license.

This section is intended to clarify language used on this page. 

  • Claimant: rights owners who believe their work has been infringed and who file a claim with CCB
  • Respondent: those who receive notices from CCB regarding alleged infringements
  • U.S. Copyright Office: the official U.S. government body that maintains records of copyright registration in the United States. The Copyright Office is a part of the Library of Congress.