DMCA § 1201: Effective or Outdated?

Authors

Yazzolino, Sydney

Abstract

Creators have gone digital and so have copyrights. To combat rampant piracy, creators flock to digital rights management systems (DRM), which control user access to copyrighted material through technology. However, DRM can be bypassed, and file-sharing networks make it easy to distribute and download illegal copies. In response, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it illegal to circumvent digital rights management technologies. This Note will analyze the effectiveness of the DMCA in the light of DRM technology in 2022. Both copyright holders and users of the copyrighted works have legitimate concerns over how digital copyrights are treated and enforced. Copyright holders are concerned with digital piracy, while consumers are concerned that the use of DRM will interfere with their right to fair use and the exhaustion principle. As it currently stands, the DMCA does not adequately address the rights of consumers. It favors the copyright holder and needlessly expands the boundaries of copyright protections. To restore the balance between consumers and copyright holders, § 1201 of the DMCA should be amended to address circumvention of technological measures that facilitates copyright infringement—not all circumvention. By narrowing the language, the DMCA will properly address consumer interest while still allowing copyright holders to protect their copyright

Recommended Citation

Yazzolino, Sydney, Case Note, DMCA § 1201: Effective or Outdated?, 62 Santa Clara L. Rev. 451 (2022).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/lawreview/vol62/iss2/6