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RETIRED - Copyright: DMCA

This web site is intended to provide information and resources for the University of Northern Colorado community on copyright and issues surrounding copyright. The Libraries is continuing to develop the web site as a service to the campus community.

This guide has been retired and replaced.

Please visit the updated Copyright Guide at https://libguides.unco.edu/copyright

DMCA

What is the DMCA?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) attempts to address technological advances by giving more copyright protection to digital works. 

Key Elements of the DMCA

The key elements of the DMCA involve two concepts, (1) limitations to the liability of online service providers and (2) prohibitions against circumventing copyright protection & management systems.  Some of the major changes brought about by the DMCA include:

  • Providing some protection to online service providers from liability for online infringement if certain conditions are true and particular rules are followed;
  • Allowing libraries and archives to make up to three reproductions for replacement or preservation purposes under certain conditions;
  • Giving copyright holders the right to control or deny access to digital works protected by copyright;
  • Making the circumvention of technology used to protect copyrighted materials a civil and criminal offense;
  • Prohibiting the manufacture, provision, and importation of, and trafficking in, anti-circumvention and anti-copying devices or software.

Online Service Provider Liability

The DMCA protects an Online Service Provider (OSP) from liability under certain conditions.   One such condition is that OSPs such as UNC must identify an agent from the institution who will receive notifications of claimed infringement from copyright holders and provide public notice on how to contact the agent. UNC’s agent is University Counsel Daniel R. Satriana.

Special OSP liability limitations apply to non-profit educational institutions.  When a faculty member or student infringes while teaching, studying, or conducting research, the OSP will not be held liable if:

  • The infringing activity does not relate to instructional activities required for a course within the last three years;
  • The institution has not received more than two infringement notices against that person within the prior three years; and
  • The institution provides copyright information to its users.

Subsequent Rulemaking Re: Anti-Circumvention

Since the original DMCA legislation was passed, exemptions have gone into effect that allow certain classes of works, in certain circumstances, to circumvent technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. These exemptions include:

  • Literary works, including e-books, that restrict the “read-aloud” function permitting text to be spoken; 
  • Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, or when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive; 
  • Audiovisual works included in the educational library of a college or university’s film or media studies department, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of making compilations of portions of those works for educational use in the classroom by media studies or film professors.

What is DRM?

Digital rights management (DRM) is a broad term encompassing technologies that control how digital content is used. See the position statement of the American Library Association, as well as links to a wide variety of other advocacy groups.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

“Key Elements of the DMCA” and “Online Services Provider Liability” adapted from content in Complete Copyright: An Everyday Guide For Librarians, by Carrie Russell, editor.

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