Copywrite is uniquely likely to clog the court

Court “, https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1309&context=iplr published 2017, accessed 6-11-2024]

The third factor of concern is the amount of time it takes to process a copyright infringement claim in the federal courts. A civil case that goes through the federal court system has a median time of twenty-five months.139 The foremost of the factors causing this delay is case backlog.140 Currently, in the US federal court system, there is a backlog of more than 340,000 pending civil cases.141 Additionally, this number does not reflect that the federal courts must attempt to resolve criminal matters before they address civil ones in circumstances where it is reasonable to do so, and the number of backlogged criminal cases is over 80,000.142 While the nature of criminal cases can make the delay seem justifiable, it does not change the fact that copyright gets put on a backburner and “if decisions on contracts, mergers and intellectual-property rights can’t be reached through quick and prompt justice, things unravel for business.”143 This kind of time investment is not feasible for the average individual or amateur creator.144 Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill spoke on this issue stating “[o]ver the years I’ve received several letters from people indicating, ‘Even if I win this case now, my business has failed because of the delay. How is this justice?’ And the simple answer, which I cannot give them, is this: It is not justice. We know it.”145