Andrew_Fireborn wrote:Faqa wrote:Andrew_Fireborn wrote:Before the DMCA, I don't think the courts would have cared.
But, the DMCA makes bypassing DRM illegal.
Uh... no:
I see, good to know that Anti-Circumvention portions of the law were effectively struck down. Amazed I hadn't heard of that before now, considering that dates back to late 2010...
The anti-circumvention portions were not struck down. The court found that the DMCA circumvention claim was invalid,
in this case. From the decision:
Moreover, the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision does not apply to the use of copyrighted works after the technological measure has been circumvented, targeting instead the circumvention itself. Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429, 443 (2d Cir.2001)… Without proving GE/PMI actually circumvented the technology (as opposed to using technology already circumvented), MGE does not present a valid DMCA claim. See id. ([T]he DMCA targets the circumvention of digital walls guarding copyrighted material (and trafficking in circumvention tools), but does not concern itself with the use of those materials after circumvention has occurred.)
So, the plaintiffs did not show that GE actually circumvented anything themselves. Use of circumvented software is not an offense under the DMCA, circumvention is.
Secondly:
The DMCA prohibits only forms of access that would violate or impinge on the protections that the Copyright Act otherwise affords copyright owners. See Chamberlain Group, Inc. v. Skylink Techs., Inc., 381 F.3d 1178, 1202 (Fed.Cir.2004). The Federal Circuit, in analyzing the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision, concluded that it “convey no additional property rights in and of themselves; [it] simply provide property owners with new ways to secure their property.” Id. at 1193-94. Indeed, “virtually every clause of § 1201 that mentions ‘access’ links ‘access’ to ‘protection.’ ” Id. at 1197. Without showing a link between “access” and “protection” of the copyrighted work, the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision does not apply. The owner’s technological measure must protect the copyrighted material against an infringement of a right that the Copyright Act protects, not from mere use or viewing.
The DMCA only works to protect rights under copyright (duplication, etc.). Use of the circumvented key did not violate any of these rights, so the DMCA does not apply, in this case.
The act of circumventing (ie, the cracker teams who actually bypass the DRM) is an offense under the DMCA, and since it allows copying and use of copies unlicensed by the copyright holder, the DMCA would apply there as well.
