Copyright Office hearings at Stanford will consider DVD clipping

The US Copyright Office will hold hearings at Stanford University this Friday, May 1, to consider possible exemptions to the DMCA’s prohibition on circumventing technological protection measures.  One exemption, proposed by the EFF, would allow artists to copy snippets of DVDs to make new works that would qualify for fair use.

For the uninitiated, the DMCA is a US copyright law that focuses on digital technology.  Among other things, the DMCA prevents individuals from finding ways to get around copyright protection technology — for instance, the technological measures built into DVDs that prevent users from copying them.

It’d be nice if the Copyright Office gave the issue serious consideration.  The movie industry takes the position that ripping DVDs is copyright infringement no matter the purpose.  This can’t be a correct interpretation of copyright law, because if so the DMCA would allow copyright owners to effectively excise fair use by installing strong anti-copying protection.

If there is no legal means of copying copyrighted works then no one can use them to create new works.  As the EFF notes, that would have serious implications for the thriving “remix culture” evidenced by the sheer volume and popularity of works appearing on YouTube and social media sites.