Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998, prohibits the act of circumventing technological measures that effectively control access to copyrighted works. The prohibitions are qualified by statutory exceptions.

The Register of Copyrights conducts a triennial rulemaking to identify classes of copyrighted works for which noninfringing uses are likely to be adversely affected. Classes of works selected by the Register of Copyrights and approved by the Librarian of Congress are exempt from the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision during the subsequent three-year period.

In recent DMCA rulemaking, 74 classes of works were proposed for potential exemption. The Register of Copyrights held hearings on selected proposals in Washington, D.C. and Palo Alto, CA.

After consideration, the Register of Copyrights announced exemption of six classes of works. Three received renewals of exemptions granted in prior rulemakings. The remaining three classes were granted exemptions for the first time.