DMCA

Elkin-Koren on Anticircumvention Law and Consumers-as-Participants

Zohar Efroni — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:05:38 -0700

Prof. Niva Elkin-Koren has uploaded a paper titled Making Room for Consumer Under the DMCA, to be published soon in the BTLJ. The paper provides a terrific analysis and introduces an original perspective, proposing to perceive users of copyrighted works as participating consumers in information markets. This perspective underlies the argument for granting consumers more solid and meaningful protections within copyrights law, inter alia, a right to access cultural goods - despite DRMs. From the abstract:

Digging the grave for next-generation DVD TPMs?

Zohar Efroni — Fri, 04 May 2007 01:59:04 -0700

That a string of digits-and-letters receives the honor to be composed into a song is, I think, a noteworthy development. Sure, copyright law is about fostering creativity, but in this case it happened in a rather odd sense. People sing the code to make it clear (even to the most shortsighted court) that there is a free speech issue here. Anyway, the people at Digg.com say they will fight till the end. "If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying," said Kevin Rose, the company founder. The NYT article from yesterday covering the story featured co-NR CIS Fellow Prof. Chris Sprigman.

District Court Finds Failure to Demonstrate Circumvention of a Technological Measure in DMCA Claim Involving User Detection Feat

Lauren Gelman — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:20:19 -0800

Plaintiff Auto Inspection Services, Inc. (“AIS”) sought a preliminary injunction against Defendants Flint Auto Auction, Inc., Inviso, Inc., and Priority Inspections, Inc. (collectively “FAA”) for copyright infringement and violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DCMA”) with respect to an automotive inspection program. In the copyright infringement action, the Court found that AIS failed to demonstrate substantial similarity of their program with FAA’s program. In the DMCA claim, the Court found that AIS failed to demonstrate that FAA circumvented a technological measure that controls access to AIS’s source code. The Court therefore dissolved a TRO against FAA and denied AIS’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

We All Now Wish We Were Film or Media Studies Professors

Elizabeth Townsend Gard — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:21:32 -0800

So, thanks to the Librarian of Congress, film professors and media studies professors can now make a compilation of film clips for class without breaking the law. But ONLY film professors and media studies professors.

From the Copyright Office’s website:

The Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) during the next three years.