Today I would like to ask you to consider co-sponsoring the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act, S.1273). For small creators, this legislation is important to preserve our art and our livelihoods. The CASE Act would enable us to enforce our rights by utilizing means that are more economical and accessible than litigation. Professional photographers are frequently faced with copyright infringement issues but because the values of those infringements tend to be less than $3,000, many are unable to find an intellectual property attorney willing to take their case. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), two-thirds of intellectual property attorneys were not willing to accept a copyright case with presumed damages of less than $30,000. Furthermore, the ABA also reports that on average, a federal copyright lawsuit costs more than $300,000. The drafters of the United States Constitution realized the importance of promoting the arts and understood that the protection of intellectual property was necessary to facilitate creativity in our society. Our current copyright system, unfortunately, does not favor visual artists and other small creators, but the implementation of the CASE Act would change that. A small-claims option for copyright enforcement would allow hundreds of thousands of creators the ability to protect their rights in a more cost-effective and attainable way. Please support the creators and small businesses in your district by co-sponsoring S.1273.

I need your help. Life is hard as a professional photographer. We work on average more than 50 hours a week, while earning on average about $35,000 a year. I am not one of the big-name, high-dollar creators that we hear so much about in the media. Like all creators, there are those who would steal our work. And unfortunately, when that happens this is little we can do about it. We need your help to put a stop to it! The only remedy for copyright infringement is to pursue an action in Federal Court. However, because the average infringement is valued at less than $3000, pursuing an infringement in Federal Court is not an option. Which means I am left out in the cold. The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (CASE Act, S.1273) would finally change all that. The CASE Act would create a small claims tribunal under the U.S. Copyright Office, finally giving small creators like myself the opportunity to enforce our copyrights. And here is another reason to support the CASE Act – 54% of our economy is the result of SMALL business. The number of jobs created by small business is twice that of large business. As a small business creator, I need the CASE Act to continue doing my part for my family, my community, and for the economy. The drafters of the United States Constitution realized the importance of promoting the arts and understood that protection of intellectual property was necessary to facilitate creativity in our society. However, under our current copyright system, many visual artists and small business creators are unable to adequately protect our work. The adoption of the CASE Act would change that, for the first time giving smaller creators the ability to protect what they create. Please help me and hundreds of thousands of other creators who have no protection under the law. We need the CASE Act. We need to correct this century-old inequity in our copyright system. Please consider co-sponsoring S.1273.