Different claimants may choose different paths, depending on what their situations, claims, preferences, and goals are. This quiz will take you through different questions you might encounter while navigating the CCB's process.

Each question and answer you choose will be summarized on the left panel.

The CCB also provides its own handbook, offering guidance and information about each step of the process.

Before deciding which path might be best for you to get relief on a potential claim, let's see if the CCB could even be a viable option for you. Read more about the CCB here to learn more.

• You and your respondent live in the United States.
• The statute of limitations has not expired.
  In other words, you are bringing your claim within three years of when the respondent's conduct began.
• You have filed 30+ claims with the CCB in the last 12 months.
• The CCB or any court has not already reached a final decision on this claim, or the claim is currently pending before a court.
  If you have previously filed this claim with the CCB, it has not been dismissed with prejudice or reached a final determination before it was closed. You also cannot file a claim if you received a final judgment on the same claim in a federal court.

If you do not meet these core requirements, you may not be able to bring this case to the CCB. While some issues can be fixed (e.g. you wait until your quota for claims with the CCB resets), many of these cannot be changed (e.g. your statute of limitations has run out). Read more about the CCB here to learn more.

You may want to look more into whether another venue like federal court might be right for you instead.

If your issue involves something like misrepresentation or infringement, you may also consider working with internet service providers like Spotify, Etsy, Instragram, YouTube, etc. to correct any issues with their own processes.

The CCB can only hear the following kinds of claims:

• infringement
• noninfringement
• misrepresentation

If your dispute is about a contractual disagreement (e.g. you licensed your content to someone else based on a contract that you believe was violated), this might be out of the CCB's jurisdiction. Learn more about Unsuitability here.

The CCB has limited authority to govern over only specific copyright cases. Read more about the CCB here, to learn more.

You may want to look more into whether another venue like federal court might be right for you instead. One common reason cases do not survive in the CCB's compliance review process (when the officers review your claim after it is filed) is that they are not actually copyright disputes. If a case is fundamentally about a dispute on whether a contract was breached (e.g. a contract involving the licensing of copyrighted materials), that actually would not be within the CCB's jurisdiction. This is the kind of case you might instead consider bringing to a federal court.

As a reminder, the CCB only oversees these three types of claims:

• Infringement: You may have an infringement claim if you believe that someone used your original and protected work. To bring a CCB infringement claim, you must (1) have a registered copyright for your work, (2) maintain exclusive rights over the work, and (3) someone else attempted to use your exclusive rights without your permission.
• Noninfringement: These claims are relevant if someone accuses you of unlawfully using or intending to use their protected work without permission. A noninfringement claim can give you a declaration from the CCB that your conduct is not (nor will be) copyright infringement. You do not need a registered copyright to bring a noninfringement claim.
• Misrepresentation: If “you believe the respondent said something false in a takedown notice or counter-notice to an online service provider, and this resulted in the online service provider taking content offline or putting it back online,” then you have a misrepresentation claim.

You can only pursue infringement claims for copyrights that are registered or pending-registration.

Learn more about registration here.

Noninfringement claims require a showing of the following:

• The respondent told you that your activities were, are or will be infringing.
• The respondent filed for a takedown of your content from an online service provider.
• The respondent’s accusations have interfered with your activities.
• The respondent told someone else that your activities constituted infringement.

Learn more about Noninfringement Claims with the CCB's handbook chapter on building these claims specifically.

Misrepresentation claims require a showing of the following:

• The respondent sent an online service provider either: a takedown notice claiming that your online content or activity is infringing or a counter-notice refuting infringement claims or claiming that the content was removed mistakenly.
• The respondent made a misrepresentation, a false or incorrect factual statement, in the takedown notice or counter-notice.
• The respondent knew that the misrepresentation was false.
• The misrepresentation was important to the online service provider’s decision to take down or repost the content.
• The online service provider relied on the misrepresentation.
• You were harmed because of it.

Learn more about Misrepresentation Claims with the CCB's handbook chapter on building these claims specifically.

Infringement claims require a showing of the following:

• You must have ownership of a valid copyright. Your work must be registered or pending registration.
• You must have exclusive license over at least one right in the work: the right to make copies, the right to prepare other works using this work (“derivative works”), the right to distribute, the right to make copies, the right to publicly perform the work, the right to publicly display the work.
• The respondent used one of your exclusive rights without your permission, and they had an opportunity to be exposed to your work. Their work is also substantially like original elements of expression in your work.

Learn more about Infringement Claims with the CCB's handbook chapter on building these claims specifically.

When you file a claim, it is in your best interest to show that you are able to prove each of these elements. While you may not have all of the evidence you need to do this, you may want to provide the information and documents you do have to strengthen your claim. Every situation is different, of course, so we recommend you visit the CCB's handbook chapters on building claims to learn more.

After your file your claim and pay your first filing fee ($40), the CCB will review it. As noted above, many claims do not make it past this review process. Claims that are not fundamentally about copyright law issues or claims that are not eligible do not continue.

What happens if your claim doesn't succeed on the first try?If the issue that came up is something that can be corrected, for example you needed to provide more information about something in your claim, the CCB provides two chances to make corrections (called "amendments"). These have deadlines, so you will need to submit a timely response.

Learn more about Compliance Review with the CCB's Compliance handbook chapter.

Learn more about Compliance Review with the CCB's Compliance handbook chapter and about Unsuitability here.

The CCB will provide you with a packet of information you must present to the respondent. This process is called service. You cannot include any other materials when sending this packet — a proper service packet includes an initial notice, the claim, and the opt-out form. You can also give your respondent the option to waive service. If the respondent agrees to waive, you do not need to serve them.

Service can be challenging in the filing process because each state has its own service rules. How service is accomplished will depend “on who the respondent is, where they are located, and whether they have a designated service agent.” The CCB advises that some claimants may want to consider hiring a process server who can sign a form confirming the service of the process. You can issue service by the CCB’s designated methods or serve based on the applicable state law where the respondent lives. Importantly, you cannot serve the respondent yourself. A general rule to keep in mind is that if you are serving in person, you may not be the one to personally serve the documents.

Once you serve the respondent, you will need to share evidence of service with the CCB within seven days of service. You have 90 days to issue service and file proof of service.

Learn more about Service from the CCB's handbook.

Learn more about Service with the CCB's handbook chapter.

Something unique about the CCB is that respondents can choose not to participate in the process. If a respondent does not respond at all when they are given service, they are automatically opted-in to the proceedings by default. But, if a respondent does choose to opt-out, that marks the end of the claim.

Respondents might opt-in by default by not responding, or they may choose to participate in the CCB's process because here, there are limits on damages and the proceedings are more streamlined. But some respondents may prefer to opt-out, instead. If the respondent opts in, you will need to submit a second payment of $60 to the CCB to push your case into "active phase."

If a respondent opts out, that doesn't mean you have no recourse. You can try to reach a settlement with the respondent, or you can still bring your claim to federal court where there is not choice to opt out. This may be a more difficult path for claimants (it's harder to navigate, may be much harder without an attorney, and is more drawn out), but may lead to more damages if you believe the respondent willfully infringed on your copyrighted materials.

For more on opting-out, read the CCB's handbook.

As we mentioned before, if a respondent opts out, that doesn't mean you have no recourse. You can try to reach a settlement with the respondent, or you can still bring your claim to federal court where there is not choice to opt out. This may be a more difficult path for claimants (it's harder to navigate, may be much harder without an attorney, and is more drawn out), but may lead to more damages if you believe the respondent willfully infringed on your copyrighted materials.

Read more on opting-out here.

Once active, the CCB will issue an order directing you, the claimant, to pay a second filing fee of $60 on eCCB within fourteen days. Your proceeding will be delayed if you don’t submit the second filing fee on time.

Next, the CCB will issue a Scheduling Order. It will include key dates and deadlines for each stage of this active phase. The respondent will explain their positions by filing a response and any counterclaims.

Prediscovery • You and your Copyright Claims Officer will meet in a virtual conference to discuss the process of presenting your case. The officer is one of the three officers who make up the CCB tribunal. Once again, they have deep experience in copyright law. They will hold a virtual conference with you and the respondent to discuss the proceeding, how the steps of the proceeding will work, and whether or not you are interested in settling.

Discovery • After your pre-discovery conference, you will enter discovery. During this period, the parties exchange information and documents relevant to the claim. Once the discovery period ends, a Copyright Claims Officer holds another virtual conference to discuss the process of presenting your case to the CCB. They may again discuss whether you are interested settling.

Hearings • If you and the respondent decide you don’t want to settle, you will present your case in a remote digital hearing in the form of a) a written position statement describing why you think you should win, b) a statement from any witnesses, and c) documentary evidence.

For more on proceedings, read Chapters 10-18 of the CCB's handbook.

If you've gotten this far, your claim may reach a final determination! This does not happen often - many parties may drop out of the process because they independently reached a settlement. This may not be reflected in the data about the CCB - sometimes, claimants voluntarily dismiss their own cases or stop responding within the required deadlines because they and the respondent have made agreements outside of the CCB's process. This isn't necessarily a bad thing -- settlements can be a way of achieving your desired outcome without leveraging the CCB or federal courts.

Final determinations are legally "final" -- they are official decisions, that have legal effect. But if you disagree with these decisions and want someone to review them, you can file for review. The CCB must grant your request for review, so this is not guaranteed.

Read more on final determinations here.

While some respondents and claimants resolve their disputes on their own, sometimes the CCB facilitates settlements among parties too.

Read more on settlement here.

Sometimes, claimants may choose to dismiss their own claims to resolve their disputes with respondents outside of the CCB's proceedings. This may be a more efficient way at resolving your dispute, depending on what you are seeking and how cooperative the other party is.