The Copyright Claims Board and the Individual Creator: Is Real Reform Possible?

Recent copyright reform efforts include legislation in the Congress that would create a copyright claims board to help individual creators and small businesses enforce their copyrights without the expense and complexity of federal court litigation. This article reviews similar tribunals in other countries and examines the proposed board to determine whether it would be effective, both for small claims plaintiffs and in advancing the goals of copyright overall. Test cases involving different types of plaintiffs and defendants are used in order to determine whether the proposed board would in practice level the playing field for individual creators in copyright infringement suits.