In December 2020, Congress passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act), which directed the Copyright Office to establish the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). The CCB is a three-member tribunal within the Office that provides an efficient and user-friendly option to resolve certain copyright disputes that involve up to $30,000 (called “small claims”).
If a researcher uses copyrighted material under the fair use exception, they could still be infringing upon copyright with potential claims up to $30,000. An example would be if the researcher quoted copyrighted material for a dissertation and the dissertation becomes available through an online repository.
If you receive a CCB claim notice, it means that a copyright holder is asserting that you have infringed on their copyright by uploading, performing, displaying, or distributing their intellectual property. Whether or not you believe you have infringed on someone else’s copyright, the best course of action is to seek legal counsel as soon as possible after receiving a CCB claim notice.