Copyright Alliance Submits Statement to House Committee on Small Business for Intellectual Property Hearing

May 16, 2018

STATEMENT

Washington, D.C. In conjunction with today’s House Committee on Small Business hearing on Intellectual Property 101: How Small Business Owners Can Utilize IP Protections in Their Businesses, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid submitted a statement for the record.

According to Kupferschmid, the Copyright Alliance works closely with legislators, members, partners, and all other relevant constituents to support the IP and copyright interests of professional creators and small businesses, which are “integral to the success of the American economy… and employ nearly half of the private sector workforce.”

As one of its priorities, the Copyright Alliance is “continuing its advocacy of H.R. 3945, the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act, which would create a voluntary alternative to federal court for resolving certain copyright disputes. Since copyright is under the jurisdiction of federal courts… it is often too costly for creators and small businesses to enforce their rights under the (current) law… leaving them with rights and no remedies.”

With a focus on providing numerous educational initiatives, the Copyright Alliance offers robust resources on its website, and partners with organizations across the country, to educate creators and small businesses regarding the value and importance of copyright and creators rights. According to Kupferschmid, a recent example includes the 2018 World Intellectual Property Day celebration, during which “we partnered with Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts organizations (VLAs) to host educational events focused on copyright in (numerous) cities across the country.”

You can access the full statement here.

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ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE

The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest and educational organization representing the copyright interests of over 1.8 million individual creators and over 13,000 organizations in the United States, across the spectrum of copyright disciplines. The Copyright Alliance is dedicated to advocating policies that promote and preserve the value of copyright, and to protecting the rights of creators and innovators. For more information, please visit www.copyrightalliance.org.