COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS OUT OF CONTROL
Artists and photographers are losing to businesses who bully to keep what they steal. Stealing is stealing and it is time for the law to protect small businesses.
“A small claims process for copyright enforcement would be the single most important copyright improvement for photographers.”
As a professional photographer, you have copyright protection but do not have an effective means of enforcing your rights. In fact, the current copyright system in the United States practically excludes the vast majority of creators by not offering an adequate enforcement option for small-business copyright holders. PPA’s Government Affairs team has been advocating for the creation of a copyright small claims process for the past ten years! We are very excited to report that members of the House Judiciary Committee are currently working to create legislation which would achieve this goal!
Watch this video to better understand the issue…
A small claims option would correct this decade-long inequity in the law, and would extend protection under the law to hundreds of thousands of small-business creators. Visual artists are entitled to an effective means of enforcing their intellectual property rights. The time has come to correct this injustice.
“A small claims process for copyright enforcement would be the single most important copyright improvement for photographers.”
Are you ready to help with this grassroots movement? You can make a difference and have your voice heard. Learn what you can do next by visiting the PPA website. It’s easy to do!
Sources: American Bar Association, Section of Intellectual Property Law – Comments to US Copyright Office (2012) | Industry survey conducted by Professional Photographers of America (2015)
