DMCA
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
Since they were enacted in 1998, the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") have not been used as Congress envisioned. Congress meant to stop copyright pirates from defeating DRM restrictions (aka content or copy protections) added to copyrighted works and to ban the "black box" devices intended for that purpose.
In practice, the DMCA and DRM have done nothing to stop "Internet piracy." Yet the DMCA has become a serious threat that jeopardizes fair use, impedes competition and innovation, chills free expression and scientific research, and interferes with computer intrusion laws. If you circumvent DRM locks for noninfringing fair uses or create the tools to do so, you might be on the receiving end of a lawsuit.
EFF has fought hard against the DMCA in the courts, Congress, and other forums. Learn more through the links below, and take action now to support DMCA reform.
Litigation
- Blizzard v. BNETD
- RealNetworks v. DVD-CCA (RealDVD case)On September 30, 2008, the day Real was to formally launch its RealDVD product, the motion picture studios filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles and asked for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the launch. The same day, RealNetworks filed a lawsuit in San Francisco asking the court to declare that distribution of RealDVD is lawful.
- Chamber of Commerce v. Servin
- Viacom v. YouTube
- Marvel v. NCSoft
- RIAA v. Charter Communications Archive
- Lexmark v. Static Control Case Archive
- Macrovision v. SimaIn 2005, Macrovision sued Sima to block the sale of the Sima CopyThis! (CT-1, CT-Q1, CT-100, CT-2, CT-200) and GoDVD (SCC, and SCC-2) products, which are designed to digitize analog video, such as the analog video outputs of DVD players and analog VCRs. The Macrovision Analog Copy Protection (ACP) signals often embedded in these analog outputs, however, do not survive the digitizing process, and therefore are not embedded in the outputs of the Sima devices. Macrovision argued that this violates both Macrovision's patents and the DMCA's prohibition on circumvention.
In The News
- TECH DIRT | March 10, 2010 Another Reason To Worry About DMCA Takedowns: Collateral Damage
- INFOWORLD | March 01, 2010 Jailbreaking in the iPhone 3.0 era
- WIRED NEWS | February 22, 2010 DMCA Exemption Unlikely for iPad Jailbreak
Other Resources
- August 14, 2009 Canada Action Alert: Speak Out on the Future of Digital Copyright
- A Guide to YouTube Removals
- January 15, 2009 Free Your Phone
Related Issues
- DMCA RulemakingEvery three years, the U.S. Copyright Office convenes a rulemaking to consider granting exemptions to the DMCA's ban on circumvention to mitigate the harms the law has caused to legitimate, non-infringing uses of copyrighted materials.
- Digital VideoDigital Video Restrictions
Whitepapers
Deeplinks Posts
- March 18, 2010 Viacom Makes Its Case Against Yesterday's YouTube
- March 09, 2010 UPDATED: All Your Apps Are Belong to Apple: The iPhone Developer Program License Agreement
- March 04, 2010 The Weakest Link Redux
Press Releases
- April 13, 2010 Viacom's Legal Attack on YouTube Threatens Online Speech and Innovation
- March 03, 2010 Unintended Consequences: Twelve Years Under the DMCA
- November 11, 2009 EFF to Represent Yes Men in Court Battle Over Chamber of Commerce Action
Want to learn how you can defend free speech, stand up for privacy, fight for government transparency, support consumer rights, and protect your right to innovation in the digital world? Visit http://eff.org/fight to find ways to help.