The DMCA is a law that criminalizes the development or use of software that allows access to copyrighted materials. It establishes rules for the prosecution of copyright infringers, including those who share documents or use programming code to access encoded material. Programs like Napster violated the DMCA by allowing people to download music files illegally. A proposed DMCA revamp in 2006 aimed to further restrict file sharing, but not everyone supported it. Warner is giving the right to use their recordings to make short films or videos, potentially easing copyright infringement litigation on YouTube. Some organizations oppose further tightening of the DMCA, but may lack the power to influence the software, recording, and motion picture industries.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a federal law established in 1998. It criminalized the development or use of software that allows people to access copyrighted materials, such as music files, DVDs, or software programs. It also makes the dissemination of copyrighted materials criminal.
The impetus behind the DMCA is that computer piracy was rapidly diminishing the profits for those who spread information on the Internet or sold software programs. Making pirated copies of materials such as a word processing program or music duplicates was becoming a growing headache for companies that used the Internet or made a profit from it.
The DMCA has sought to address this issue by establishing specific rules regarding the criminal and civil prosecution of copyright infringers. In some cases the violation would include plagiarism, failure to cite particular sources appropriately, or willful theft. It also includes programming code that can provide access to the encoded material.
Programs like Napster, for example, are in direct violation of the DMCA because they allowed people to download music files without paying the musicians and record companies. This program was able to bypass data encryption, so people could download material illegally, as defined by the DMCA.
Opponents of Napster’s shutdown argued that the DMCA overstepped itself because people were sharing documents, not committing to seek profit for their use. However, this sharing also allegedly violated the DMCA and thus Napster was ordered to shut down.
In 2006, backed by the record and film industries, a proposed DMCA revamp would have further tightened restrictions on things like file sharing. Not everyone supports this revision of the original DMCA. For example, one of the targets proposed by the DMCA is YouTube, where people often share copyrighted material.
Evoking some controversy, one major record label, Warner, is giving the right to anyone to use their recordings to make short films or videos. Additional acts by other record companies could help end YouTube’s looming copyright infringement litigation and make it easier for people to share and experience movies and music files.
There are many organizations now opposed to further tightening of the DMCA, but their opposition may mean little since these organizations lack the power to lobby some of the giants in the software, recording and motion picture industries.
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