Intellectual Property - Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Links to older pages
1. Original page
2. Version Two

Topics Page

Study Guide

  1. Overview

    On October 12, 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act giving content owners a powerful new tool in the protection of copyrights and intellectual property existing on the internet. A major part of the act makes the circumvention of anti-piracy measures an illegal act. The DMCA also addresses Internet Service Providers, stating that an ISP is not responsible for data sent through them but is responsible for data stored on their severs. Some recent victims of the act include:

    Ethical Issues:

    • The rights of the end-user vs. the rights of the copyright holder.
    • When is it ok to circumvent copy protections?
    • Is a library considered an ISP (Internet Service Provider)?
    • What constitutes fair-use?
    • How much of a work can you copy or distribute without violating the DMCA?

    The DMCA has been long awaited by the entertainment industries:

    The DMCA has not been welcomed by all, even though it protects copyrighted intellectual property. It has caused some unexpected opposition:

  2. Study of Cases in Point

    • Apple iPod/iTunes

      The Apple iPod has exploded in popularity as a portable entertainment device. Initially, it was only a music player, but has expanded now to include video as well. One of the biggest controversies over the new video iPods concerns the right of end-users to copy their DVD's to the iPod. Many people and consumer groups consider this to be a right guaranteed by fair-use laws, but Apple has been prevented by law (i.e. the DMCA) from including any DVD capabilities in it's iPod software, iTunes. That being said, Apple has also used the DMCA in order to promote it's monopoly over the iPod/iTunes market.

    • DeCSS

      DVDs have become the new standard in video distribution. Most commercial DVDs have a security feature built in so that only DVD players that pay a licensing fee can play them.  The feature is called CSS (Content Scrambling System).  DeCSS is a program that was written that decodes a DVD without a license.  This program would allow for people to view DVDs on Linux computers and would also allow people to store DVDs to their hard drive.  The MPAA has sued the people involved with DeCSS stating that is a violation of the DMCA.

      • Does the DeCSS program constitute a program that is designed to defeat anti-piracy measures or just another DVD player?
      • Should people who link to the source for DeCSS be held liable for breaking the DMCA also?
      • Should reverse engineering a copyright system illegal?

Index of Topics