New York, NY, December 21, 2020: The Graphic Artists Guild applauds the passage of The CASE Act, The Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act of 2019. For decades, the individual designers and illustrators and small studios we represent have seen their licensing income and commissions dwindle as their works are freely stolen by copyright infringers. These creators often lack the means to pursue a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court. The small copyright claims tribunal established by The CASE Act extends to these artists an affordable and expedited means to defend their copyrights. More importantly, by putting copyright abusers on notice, it will deter infringement and restore to creators some measure of respect for their labor.

The Graphic Artists Guild has advocated for a remedy for small copyright claims for over a decade. Graphic Artists Guild national president Lara Kisielewska has said about the Bill: “It’s a solution that is long overdue for individual creators and small copyright holders, for whom copyright has too often been a right without a remedy. And it’s a necessary correction to a system in which infringers have been able to act with impunity.”

The Graphic Artists Guild thanks the Members of Congress who took the concerns of creators to heart and supported this Bill. Chief among those are Representatives Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Doug Collins (R-GA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Senators Jon Kennedy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Dick Durbin (D-ILL.), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Mazie K. Hirono, (D-HI).

We also thank the extended community of creators’ advocates – representing writers, photographers, songwriters, composers, and others – who joined forces to work for passage of this Bill. In particular, we would like to acknowledge the tireless work of the Copyright Alliance and the Coalition of Visual Artists, of which we are a proud member: American Photographic Artists,  American Society of Media Photographers,  the Digital Media Licensing Association, the North American Nature Photographers Association, Professional Photographers of America, and Shaftel & Schmelzer.