The following is not meant to be legal advice.
In Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) rulemaking in 2000, the Librarian of Congress approved an exemption for computer programs protected by dongles that are obsolete and prevent access due to malfunction or damage.
Dongles are hardware locks attached to a computer that prevent unauthorized access to software. Dongles can prevent authorized access to licensed software if the dongles malfunction and replacements are unavailable. Recently, the Librarian of Congress renewed this exemption for a third term.
The Librarian of Congress renewed an exemption that comprises literary works distributed in eBook format. Access controls protecting such works can be circumvented, provided that all existing eBook or authorized digital text editions disable the book's read-aloud function or prevent screen readers from rendering the text in a specialized format, such as braille.
The Librarian of Congress renewed an exemption, granted in 2003, for computer programs and video games distributed in obsolete formats that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access. This exemption applies when circumvention occurs for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive.
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