The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Exemptions to the Prohibition on Circumvention

Publication Date: February 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Law and ethics

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Abstract:

Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998, in part, to help copyright owners protect their exclusive rights against infringement facilitated by digital technologies, including the Internet. Section 1201 of the DMCA outlaws circumvention of any access control devices, such as password codes, encryption, and scrambling, that copyright owners may use to protect copyrighted works. The DMCA's prohibition on circumvention is not absolute, however. In addition to several statutory exceptions to the general anti-circumvention provision, the DMCA authorizes the Librarian of Congress, upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, to grant temporary exemptions in order to ensure that the public may use certain copyrighted works in non-infringing ways, including engaging in "fair use" of such works.

Exemptions to the prohibition on circumvention of access controls are granted every three years, following a notice-and-comment rulemaking proceeding that the Register of Copyrights conducts. As a result of the most recent Copyright Office rulemaking proceeding, the Librarian of Congress recognized six new exemptions on November 27, 2006. These are effective until October 27, 2009, and permit the circumvention of access control devices, under specified circumstances, in order to (1) make compilations of video clips for film and media studies courses; (2) archive obsolete computer programs or games; (3) bypass "dongles," or hardware locks, that are obsolete; (4) use read-aloud functions or screen readers with e-books; (5) connect wireless telephone handsets to communication networks; and (6) test for or correct security flaws in works distributed on compact discs.

This report reviews the statutory basis for the triennial exemptions, explains the Copyright Office's rulemaking process pursuant to the DMCA, summarizes the exemptions granted and rejected in 2006, and describes public reactions to the 2006 exemptions.