Copyright Resource Guide: Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)

This was an Act signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1998, which implementes two WIPO treaties. According to this Act the production and dissemination of technology, devices and services circumventing control of access to copyright works and heightening Internet copyright infringement penalities.

DMCA - For Faculty and Students  (Copied from the UMKC Libraries Copyright LibGuide)

Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998
(Chapter 12, Sections 1201 and 1202, updates the Copyright Act of 1976.)

The DMCA was written to address intellectual property in the digital environment.

Anticircumvention under the DMCA

• It is illegal to circumvent or decrypt technological protection measures (TPMs) that protect digital intellectual property  even if your use is a fair use.
• It is also illegal to manufacture and to traffic any technology or service that is designed to circumvent a TPM. 
• The DMCA prohibits removing the copyright management information contained on a copyrighted work.

How does the DMCA affect my teaching?

Many instructors wish to copy, convert or transcode videos that are locked by TPMs for instructional purposes yet the DMCA restricts this activity. Every three years, however, the Copyright Office re-evaluates the impact of the law and tries to respond by issuing special exemptions. In 2012 faculty have new exemptions addressing the use of motion pictures on DVD and from online distribution services.

General parameters are these:
• Circumvention is allowable only for the purposes of criticism and commentary.
• Only “short portions” may be copied.

Use of Screen Capture Software
The DMCA exemptions now address more fully the use of screen capture software. It is not always clear whether the screen capture process uses circumvention techniques or whether it captures video after the decryption process which is the legal approach. In the event that the capturing is circumventing, for the first time the DMCA exemptions allow short portions of the above works to be copied for comment and criticism for educational purposes by university faculty and by college students as well as K-12 educators. Commonly used screen capture softwares are Camtasia, Jing, SnagIT, Captivate or Screencast-o-matic. All have their limitations.

When Screen Capture Software isn’t Good Enough
The DMCA permits the circumvention of TPMs when screen capture software does not give the level of quality needed for the kind of criticism or comment. This exemption applies to film studies classes or any class doing film and media analysis. University faculty, college students and K-12 educators may take advantage of this exemption.

The 2012 DMCA table below lays out the current permitted circumventions, who is entitled to use them and for what purposes.  Faculty who teach online will also need to consult the TEACH ACT when using video material.
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2012 DMCA Exemptions Table