Can you believe it? It’s been ten years today since Bill Clinton put into law the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). The act was created in an effort to regulate piracy on the internet and protect copyrighted content.
Although Congress created the act with good intentions, the DMCA has, in some cases, turned into a crutch that copyright owners have relied upon to intentionally or unintentionally stifle natural technological progress in order to benefit financially.
In two cases referenced by The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”), two forums, AVSforum.com and Macosxhints, censored open conversations because of direct fear of backlash, causing a DMCA lawsuit. In both cases, forum users were discussing methods to circumvent copyright methods put into place by TiVo and Apple iTunes respectively. Although law-suits were not brought in these cases, the DMCA caused a chilling affect on free speech and discussion of ideas and silences a third parties fair use rights to comment.
Not everything the DMCA has done has produced negative results though. Perhaps one of the most successful aspects of the act is the safe-harbor provisions that have been put into place.
These provisions have been set up to take the liability off of online sites that permit user-generated content. Because of this, sites like YouTube, Flickr, and MySpace have been able to flourish without fear of being sued.
For this reason, some believe web 2.0 would of never have happened without the DMCA. Others, like the EFF, do not necessarily see things in the same light suggesting that the safe-harbor provisions are the only glimmer of success in any otherwise failed piece of legislature.
Of course copyright owners are entitled to profits from their works, and no one besides the copyright owner should financially benefit from their works, but when will companies learn to embrace technology and the power of people talking?
Although the DMCA has made strides to create a “fair-use” environment online it has forced millions of dollars towards legislation that could much better be used to create alternative ways to reach audiences. What are your thoughts on the DMCA over the last ten years?
