Andrew Gross Discusses New Copyright Claims Board for Small-Scale Infringements

Foley & Lardner LLP Senior Counsel Andrew Gross is quoted in the Bloomberg Law article,“Amazon Self-Publishers Eye Emerging Legal Arena to Fight Piracy,” discussing the new U.S. Copyright Claims Board, a small-claims court that could provide a potential avenue for authors to recover revenue lost to counterfeit sales on the online marketplace.

The Copyright Claims Board is designed to aid individual creators in pursuing relatively small-scale infringement claims. It could be an author’s best bet to recover losses as “there are not very many restrictions for pursuing this route of recourse,” Gross said. However, participation at the Copyright Claims Board is voluntary, and defendants can choose to opt out of the process. Gross noted that it “remains to be seen whether they will find that avoiding federal court lawsuits is enough incentive to participate at the board.”