A 27-Month Check-In on the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) (Guest Blog Post)

October 24, 2024 · by · in Copyright

By guest blogger Tyler Ochoa

This month, the Copyright Claims Board released its quarterly report of “Key Statistics,” covering the period from June 2022 (when it began operation) through September 2024 (9 quarters, or 27 months). Here are a few highlights from the report:

1.  Number of claims filed:  The graph shows a linear progression, meaning the number of claims filed are steady, they are NOT increasing over time.  The number of claims filed is holding steady at about 110 claims per 3-month period, or about 37 claims per month, a little more than one claim per day on average.  If we exclude weekends and holidays, it is a little less than two claims filed per working day, on average.

2.  Dispositions:  Of the 989 claims filed, there are only 819 total dispositions, meaning 170 claims are still pending.  If we compare the types of dispositions to the total number of dispositions, it gives up percentages.  Of the 819 total dispositions, 391 (48%) were dismissed during claims review, 153 (19%) were not served, 82 (10%) were withdrawn, and 91 (11%) had defendants opt out.  That means 717 claims (88%) were disposed of on procedural grounds, without a ruling on the merits.  Nearly 90 percent of all claims filed result in a dismissal on procedural grounds.

If we exclude the opt outs, 626 claims (76%) are disposed of because the plaintiff did not comply with the rules or withdrew.  In other words, in 3 out of every 4 claims filed, the person filing the claim has been unable or unwilling to see the claim through.  The procedure is complicated because due process has to be observed, but it appears to be too complicated for most claimants.  The Board staff is supposed to be helping claimants to navigate the procedure; but based on the evidence to date, it seems they aren’t doing enough to help most claimants.

79 claims (10%) were settled, 14 claims (1.7%) were terminated by default (defendant did not contest the claim), and only 9 (1%) were resolved by the Board in contested proceedings.  That means the Board itself is resolving only 1% of claims filed, an average of one case every three months.  Do we really need three full-time federal employees (the Board) just to adjudicate one case every three months?  That strikes me as a misallocation of taxpayer dollars.

In total, the claimant received a settlement, a default judgment, or a final judgment in their favor in only about 100 cases, or 12 percent of the 819 dispositions (excluding the cases that are still pending).  If you are a claimant, there is a 76% chance that your claim will be dismissed because you give up or otherwise fail to comply with the rules.  If you are a claimant, there is an 88% chance that your claim will be dismissed because you gave up, failed to comply with the rules, or the defendant opted out (forcing you to go to federal district court if you want to pursue the claim, which is even more costly and complicated).  If you are a claimant, there is only about a 12 percent chance that you will recover any money from your claim.

Prior Blog Posts on the CCB