02 Jul CASE Act Senatorial Campaign: Let’s Get the S. 1273 Passed This July!
July is our make-it-or-break-it month to get The CASE Act passed! The Bill sailed through the House and was passed by a substantial bipartisan majority last September. The Senate version of the Bill got off to a great start. But we hit roadblocks – the inexplicable hold put on the Bill by Senator Wyden, coupled by having any progress derailed temporarily by the COVID emergency.
We can still get this Bill passed! We have 21 co-sponsors, and tremendous support from the creative community – writers, photographers, artists, designers, songwriters, composers, filmmakers, and more – as well as the American Bar Association, the Chamber of Commerce, and other advocates for small businesses and freelancers.
We MUST get this Bill passed in July. After the August recess, Congress will be tied up with election-year politics, COVID-related relief, and a ton of other distractions. We’ve been working on this legislation for over 15 years – help us make a copyright small claims court a reality for individual creators!
How you can help:
- Look up your Senator on the list below.
- Click onto the links for their contact form and social media handles.
- Send them a message via their contact form. (You can use our message supplied below or write your own.)
- Tag them in a message on Facebook or Twitter.
Want a simple two-click solution? Go to copyrightdefense.com to be directed to a form to immediately contact your Senator.
If you’ve already contacted your Senator, contact them again! (And again and again.) Make some noise for The CASE Act!
Message for Contacting Your Senator
I’m contacting you to ask you to co-sponsor S. 1273, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act). The CASE Act would establish a small copyright claims tribunal that would provide me with an affordable, practical, and voluntary option to the federal courts.
I am a graphic artist and a small business owner who relies on the protection copyright affords my work. Right now, it’s very difficult for me to enforce my copyrights. The federal court system is expensive, and many lawyers won’t take small copyright claims cases. The result is that when someone steals and uses my copyrighted work, I have little recourse to stop them.
It’s particularly essential to have the CASE Act passed now, while the US struggles with COVID-19 and an economic slowdown. In decades past, creators like me could weather economic crisis through licensing our work. With the rampant copyright infringement online technologies have made possible, we artists have lost significant licensing income. It’s imperative that we’re able to regain control of our copyrights, and the CASE Act will help make that happen.
The CASE Act is important to creators like me – visual artists, photographers, writers, songwriters, and others – and small copyright holders. It’s a fair and balanced bill that protects our rights while preventing abuse from copyright trolls. A small copyright claims tribunal as proposed in The Case Act would even the playing field for individual creators like me, and deter the rampant infringement of our work.
Posts to Tag Your Senator With
Put your Senator’s handle at the front of the Tweet or Facebook post:
- Artists like me need a ©small claims court to be able to go after people who steal our work. Please co-sponsor S 1273, the CASE Act! #myskillspaybills
- I’m an artist, and rampant © infringement is ruining my ability to license my work. Please co-sponsor S 1273, the CASE Act! #myskillspaybills
- Small creative businesses like mine rely on © to license our work and pay our bills. Please help us – co-sponsor S 1273, the CASE Act! #myskillspaybills
- Please co-sponsor S 1273, the CASE Act! Artists rely on copyrights to earn a living, but infringers steal our work with impunity. #myskillspaybills
Artwork © Liz DiFiore. Used with permission.
If one or both of your Senators are not listed below, that means they are already co-sponsors of the CASE Act (along with Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, the original sponsor). Be sure to thank them for supporting creators!