Exceptions to the DMCA Granted

Going into effect today, six exceptions to anti-circumvention rules in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have been granted by the overseer of the Copyright Office, the Librarian of Congress.  The rulemaking - proceedings are required every three years by The DMCA - can be seen as a positive step in the process of removing obstructive barriers in the use of copyrighted digital works.

The Digital Learning Challenge white paper, released earlier this year with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, examined the relationship between copyright law and education.  One of the case studies examined in the paper focused on the section of the DCMA that prohibited professors from easily pulling film clips from DVDs for the purposes of class screenings; this new Librarian of Congress ruling included a victory for this type of educational use as one of its six exceptions.  Writing about this particular case and the ruling as a whole, Bill McGeveran, former Berkman fellow and co-author of the white paper with Berkman faculty co-director Terry Fisher, says:

"...Until this ruling, breaking the encryption meant breaking the law — and while many (perhaps most) film professors did so anyway, they were taking a risk. Their dilemma illustrated the ridiculous over-inclusiveness of the DMCA, since the actual use of the film clips in class was unquestionably legal.  I must say I am pleasantly surprised...These rules are still quite narrow, but after all, the DMCA only authorizes exceptions that correct for situations where DRM prevents noninfringing uses of content..."

The rest of his comments can be found at the Info/Law blog, the final Library of Congress rule is here, and The Copyright Office gives a rundown of the rulemaking process and the six unshackled classes of digital works here.  As well, you can download the full Digital Learning Challenge paper and listen to the MediaBerkman podcast.