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BIG NEWS! PPA’s best day on Capitol Hill yet!
11:45 am
Immediate update! As I am sitting here writing this, we got a call from Rep. Judy Chu's office saying they are releasing the Small Claims bill TODAY. Another giant milestone in the fight to protect photographers! The bill will be called the Fairness for American Small Creators Act. Stay tuned for the official announcement and the ability to read the final bill!
11:30 am
The holidays have come early for creative artists! PPA just got out of our meeting with Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and it could not have gone better. The entire Visual Artist Coalition was able to attend the meeting, with the sole purpose of talking about the importance of small claims and our concern with the removal of Maria Pallante as the Register of Copyrights. Chairman Goodlatte agreed with us wholeheartedly and said that something needs to be done for sure.
After talking to us for a few minutes, Chairman Goodlatte gave us some fantastic news: he has prioritized four necessary reforms for the Copyright Office... and Small Claims is on that list! This is the first time a member of the House, let alone a ranking member of the House, has come out and said that Small Claims is a priority. This is a huge win for Creative Artists! However, this does not mean that our work is done. YOU, as a creative artist, are more important to this movement than ever!
Keep in mind this is going to be a long journey, and we're just getting started! Once the bill is introduced, we still need to go through both chambers of Congress. However, having the Chairman talking about Small Claims is a huge win, and a step in the right direction. This meeting honestly could not have gone any better. It almost seems as if Chairman Goodlatte was reading our minds! CEO David Trust, Director of Membership Kristen Hartman, and I are all celebrating on Capitol Hill! This one meeting made our trip even more worth it! We hope our other two meetings today go as well as this one. Stay tuned for more news to come!