Number: RL33887
Title: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Exemptions to the Prohibition on Circumvention
Authors: Brian T. Yeh, American Law Division 
Abstract: This report reviews the statutory basis for the triennial exemptions, explains the Copyright Office's rulemaking process pursuant to § 1201 of the DMCA, summarizes the exemptions granted and rejected in 2006, and describes public reactions to the 2006 exemptions. In addition, it examines provisions of a bill from the 110th Congress, H.R. 1201, the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship Act of 2007 (FAIR USE Act of 2007), that would have codified the 2006 exemptions and thus made them permanent. The bill would also have authorized six additional exemptions, in which technological protection measures may be circumvented.
Pages: 15
Date: December 22, 2008