November 2012 Public Hearings:
The Copyright Office held public hearings on small copyright claim issues in New York City on November 15-16, 2012 at the Jerome Greene Annex of Columbia Law School and in Los Angeles on November 26-27, 2012 at the UCLA School of Law. These hearings focused on the topics listed in the Office’s August 23, 2012 Notice of Inquiry and the comments submitted in response thereto. View hearing transcripts.
The New York and Los Angeles hearings followed the same agenda and addressed the same topics. The hearings were divided into seven panels covering the specific topics listed in the August 23, 2012 Notice of Inquiry, as follows:
| Panel I: | Forum, jurisdiction, and decisionmakers (nature of tribunal/process; voluntary versus mandatory participation; location of tribunal(s); qualifications and selection of adjudicators; and state court alternatives). |
| Panel II: | Subject matter, claims, and defenses (eligible works; permissible claims; permissible claim amount; permissible defenses and counterclaims; and group claims). |
| Panel III: | Practice and procedure (registration; filing fees; initiation of proceeding; representation; conduct of proceeding; discovery, motion practice, and evidence; record of proceedings; and frivolous claims). |
| Panel IV: | Litigation alternatives (arbitration; mediation; and settlement). |
| Panel V: | Relief and appeals (damages; equitable relief; attorney’s fees and costs; effect of adjudication; enforceability of judgment; and review/appeals). |
| Panel VI: | Constitutional issues. |
| Panel VII: | Moving forward (empirical data; funding considerations; evaluation of small claims systems; and other issues). |