The following statement is attributed to Abby Rives, IP Counsel of Engine, regarding the inclusion of the CASE Act in the end-of-year spending bill:
We are disappointed by Congress’s decision to include controversial copyright legislation in the must-pass omnibus spending bill. As Engine and several smaller Internet platforms expressed earlier this month, “the CASE Act—as currently drafted—will be fundamentally unfair to and create substantial confusion for” everyday Internet users, small businesses, and Internet-enabled creators across the country. That bill would create an extra-judicial board where certain copyright holders could seek substantial damages—up to $30,000—over alleged copyright infringement.
While Engine supports Congress’s efforts to explore alternatives to expensive litigation, the CASE Act lacks basic constitutional safeguards and would only further incentivize abusive and bad-faith infringement claims. With so many small businesses and Americans struggling financially, it is frustrating that Congress is creating new, costly traps for startups and Internet users and trying to force this imbalanced, complex, high-stakes issue through in an omnibus spending bill. Despite policymakers’ apparent disregard for the concerns of the entrepreneurial community, we remain committed to trying to fix the problems in the CASE Act so that startups, Internet users, and Internet-enabled creators can be protected from frivolous infringement claims moving forward.
