CASE Act and the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) Implementation Regulations
Pursuant to the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act of 2020, the U.S. Copyright Office has issued a notification of inquiry seeking public comment regarding regulations implementing to establish the new Copyright Claims Board (CCB), a voluntary “small copyright claims” tribunal comprised comprising of three Copyright Claims Officers who will have the authority to render determinations on certain copyright claims of low financial valuedisputes. The CCB will begin operations as early as December 27, 2021. The CASE Act directs the Copyright Office to adopt several regulations to govern the CCB and its procedures, including rules addressing service of notice and other documents, waiver of personal service, notifications that parties are opting out of participating in the forum, discovery, a mechanism for certain claims to be resolved by a single CCB Officer, review of CCB determinations by the Register of Copyrights, publication of records, certifications, and fees. The statute further vests the Office with general authority to adopt such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to effectuate the Board. The statute also allows the Office to adopt several optional regulations, including regulations addressing claimants’ permissible number of cases, eligible classes of works, the conduct of proceedings, and default determinations. The statute vests the Office with general authority to adopt regulations to carry out its provisions.
To assist in promulgating these regulations, the Office seeks public comment regarding the subjects of inquiry set out in its notification of inquiry. After the Office reviews the comments received in response to this notification of inquiry, the Office plans to publish multiple notices of proposed rulemaking, each focusing on one or more of the regulatory categories discussed in the notification. These subsequent notices will be phased as appropriate to permit sufficient time to comment further on these issues.
For more background on the CCB, the Office has established an informational webpage, which will be frequently updated as implementation work proceeds.
Initial written comments to the notification of inquiry were due April 26, 2021. Written reply comments were due May 10, 2021.
- March 26, 2021 - Notification of Inquiry