PDA Series – Deconstructing the CASE Act: Libraries, Users, and Copyright Small Claims

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act went into effect this summer and brought with it a flurry of copyright litigation. It is important for librarians to understand how the CASE Act could impact libraries and the patrons librarians serve. The webinar will begin with background on how the CASE Act was passed and why it is important to libraries. Then, we will go through some key considerations for the CASE Act board process and conclude with some ways to communicate with staff/patrons about the CASE Act.

Learning Objectives:

After this webinar, participants will:

• Understand how the copyright small claims board was created, and what it attempts to accomplish;
• Be able to explain how the small claims process affects library patrons and communities
• Know how to opt out of a copyright small claims board proceeding (and why a participant might want to opt out);
• Be able to provide to patrons and colleagues reliable information about the CASE Act and the small claims board proceedings.

Panelists:

Sara R. Benson is the copyright librarian and an associate professor at the Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a JD from the University of Houston Law Center, an LLM from Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley, and an MSLIS from the School of Information Science at the University of Illinois. Prior to joining the library, Sara was a lecturer at the University of Illinois College of Law for ten years. She is the author of Compact Copyright: Quick Answers to Common Questions published by ALA Editions in 2021 and the editor of Copyright Conversations: Rights Literacy in a Digital World published by the Association of College and Research Libraries in 2019. Sara is a member of the third cohort of ALA Policy Corps and is the host of the Podcast ©hat (“Copyright Chat”) available on iTunes.

Timothy Vollmer is the Scholarly Communication and Copyright Librarian at UC Berkeley Library. Tim supports faculty, staff, and students with services, outreach, and instruction related to scholarly communication and publishing, including copyright, fair use, information policy, and open educational resources. Before joining UC Berkeley in August 2019, he was Senior Public Policy Manager for Creative Commons. He’s also worked as Assistant Director to the Program on Public Access to Information for the American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy in Washington, D.C. Tim holds an MSI from the University of Michigan School of Information.

Carla S. Myers serves as Assistant Librarian and Coordinator of Scholarly Communications for the Miami University Libraries. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Akron and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Kent State University. She is the managing editor of the Journal of Copyright in Education and Librarianship and her first book, Copyright and Course Reserves Legal Issues and Best Practices for Academic Libraries is being published by ABC-CLIO in 2022. Her professional presentations and publications focus on copyright, open educational resources, and affordable learning issues.