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CASE Act Explained

By Ryan W. Morris
April 01, 2020

To many artists, the prospect of enforcing one's creative rights through the mechanism of copyright protection presents a number of challenges. While some of the enforcement issues plaguing copyright owners are a simple byproduct of progress — such as the need to police the web for online infringement or the proliferation of more-efficient technologies used in committing infringement — there are other obstacles that are inherent in our system of copyright law. Many of these built-in barriers to copyright enforcement have a disproportionate impact on the rights of individual artists and smaller, non-commercial arts organizations that often lack the financial means to seek a solution.

Like similar local organizations, Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (PVLA) works to relieve some of the pressures facing independent copyright owners and nonprofit arts organizations by providing pro bono referrals to volunteer attorneys, allowing more effective protection for creative expression. Yet even with the benefit of free legal services, federal copyright litigation often carries a prohibitive price tag, with filing fees frequently amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

In light of the relatively low-annual earnings of most independent creative professionals, along with the minimal damages that most of them stand to gain from a successful lawsuit, these fees often present an insurmountable obstacle that effectively bar these copyright owners from asserting their rights against infringers — particularly those with deep pockets. In light of these financial burdens, the unfortunate fact remains that many smaller artists are forced to forego their most powerful form of legal recourse due to a simple shortage of funds.

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