321 Studios To Sue Over DMCA Exemptions

from the fight-for-our-fair-use-rights dept

Yesterday there was a ton of coverage about the Copyright Office's decision on DMCA exemptions. Lots of people were disappointed in what was left out, but resigned themselves to the fact that they had lost. Not 321 Studios, makers of DVD backup software (who is currently fighting a court battle with the MPAA). They've decided to go to court to appeal the ruling of the Library of Congress which says that copying your own DVD for backup purposes is not exempted from the DMCA. 321 Studios says that this is a perfectly legitimate fair use of DVDs. Their (very reasonable) argument is that DVD content is the equivalent of software - which is allowed a fair use backup copy. I'm not sure what the legal process is for suing the Librarian of Congress over the DMCA exemptions they made (lawyers, want to chime in?), but this should be interesting to watch.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Frank, 29 Oct 2003 @ 12:08pm

    law

    In Florida where I practice, I'm pretty sure the state has to give you permission to let you sue it. I don't know if the federal government operates the same way.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2003 @ 3:26pm

    Re: law

    Chisholm v. Georgia.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    John Cody, 30 Oct 2003 @ 10:48am

    DMA conflict

    If, under the DMA, we have the right to have/make a copy of a particular digital media we purchased (for personal/backup use), but we just can't hack any copy protection to make such a copy, wouldn't it then be the media owner's responsibility to provide us the copy that we have the legal right to own at no/lower cost? Otherwise, how can we excercise our right to legally own a copy of the media without having to purchase another full-price product? Think about it, why did the copyright office ever create the "right" to make a backup/personal copy in the first place, if the obvious solution of just purchasing another full-price copy would suffice? I think the spirit of this particular aspect of the copyright law was to allow us to make copies for personal/backup use WITHOUT having to purchase another product. So, how are we legally able to obtain a rightful copy of a digital media we already own without having to purchase it again?

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.