U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗

this title. The prohibition

contained in the preceding sentence shall take effect at the end of the

2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this chapter.

(B) The prohibition contained in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to

persons who are users of a copyrighted work which is in a particular

class of works, if such persons are, or are likely to be in the

succeeding 3-year period, adversely affected by virtue of such

prohibition in their ability to make noninfringing uses of that

particular class of works under this title, as determined under

subparagraph (C).

(C) During the 2-year period described in subparagraph (A), and during

each succeeding 3-year period, the Librarian of Congress, upon the

recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, who shall consult with the

Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department

of Commerce and report and comment on his or her views in making such

recommendation, shall make the determination in a rulemaking proceeding

for purposes of subparagraph (B) of whether persons who are users of a

copyrighted work are, or are likely to be in the succeeding 3-year

period, adversely affected by the prohibition under subparagraph (A) in

their ability to make noninfringing uses under this title of a

particular class of copyrighted works. In conducting such rule-making,

the Librarian shall examine-

(i) the availability for use of copyrighted works;

(ii) the availability for use of works for nonprofit archival,

preservation, and educational purposes;

(iii) the impact that the prohibition on the circumvention of

technological measures applied to copyrighted works has on criticism,

comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research;

(iv) the effect of circumvention of technological measures on the market

for or value of copyrighted works; and

(v) such other factors as the Librarian considers appropriate.

(D) The Librarian shall publish any class of copyrighted works for which

the Librarian has determined, pursuant to the rulemaking conducted under

subparagraph (C), that noninfringing uses by persons who are users of a

copyrighted work are, or are likely to be, adversely affected, and the

prohibition contained in subparagraph (A) shall not apply to such users

with respect to such class of works for the ensuing 3-year period.

(E) Neither the exception under subparagraph (B) from the applicability

of the prohibition contained in subparagraph (A), nor any determination

made in a rulemaking conducted under subparagraph (C), may be used as a

defense in any action to enforce any provision of this title other than

this paragraph.

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide,

or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device,

component, or part thereof, that-

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a

technological measure that effectively controls access to a work

protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than

to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access

to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that

person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a

technological measure that effectively controls access to a work

protected under this title.

(3) As used in this subsection-

(A) to "circumvent a technological measure" means to descramble a

scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid,

bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without

the authority of the copyright owner; and

(B) a technological measure "effectively controls access to a work" if

the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the

application of information, or a process or a treatment, with the

authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work.

(b) Additional Violations. (1) No person shall manufacture, import,

offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology,

product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that-

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing

protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects

a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion

thereof;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than

to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure that

effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a

work or a portion thereof; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that

person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing protection

afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of

a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof.

(2) As used in this subsection-

(A) to "circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure" means

avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or otherwise impairing a

technological measure; and

(B) a technological measure "effectively protects a right of a copyright

owner under this title" if the measure, in the ordinary course of its

operation, prevents, restricts, or otherwise limits the exercise of a

right of a copyright owner under this title.

(c) Other Rights, Etc., Not Affected. (1) Nothing in this section shall

affect rights, remedies, limitations, or defenses to copyright

infringement, including fair use, under this title.

(2) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish vicarious or

contributory liability for copyright infringement in connection with any

technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof.

(3) Nothing in this section shall require that the design of, or design

and selection of parts and components for, a consumer electronics,

telecommunications, or computing product provide for a response to any

particular technological measure, so long as such part or component, or

the product in which such part or component is integrated, does not

otherwise fall within the prohibitions of subsection (a)(2) or (b)(1).

(4) Nothing in this section shall enlarge or diminish any rights of free

speech or the press for activities using consumer electronics,

telecommunications, or computing products.

(d) Exemption for Nonprofit Libraries, Archives, and Educational

Institutions.

(1) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational institution which

gains access to a commercially exploited copyrighted work solely in

order to make a good faith determination of whether to acquire a copy of

that work for the sole purpose of engaging in conduct permitted under

this title shall not be in violation of subsection (a)(1)(A). A copy of

a work to which access has been gained under this paragraph-

(A) may not be retained longer than necessary to make such good faith

determination; and

(B) may not be used for any other purpose.

(2) The exemption made available under paragraph (1) shall only apply

with respect to a work when an identical copy of that work is not

reasonably available in another form.

(3) A nonprofit library, archives, or educational institution that

willfully for the purpose of commercial advantage or financial gain

violates paragraph (1)-

(A) shall, for the first offense, be subject to the civil remedies under

section 1203; and

(B) shall, for repeated or subsequent offenses, in addition to the civil

remedies under section 1203, forfeit the exemption provided under

paragraph (1).

(4) This subsection may not be used as a defense to a claim under

subsection (a)(2) or (b), nor may this subsection permit a nonprofit

library, archives, or educational institution to manufacture, import,

offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology,

product, service, component, or part thereof, which circumvents a

technological measure.

(5) In order for a library or archives to qualify for the exemption

under this subsection, the collections of that library or archives shall

be-

(A) open to the public; or

(B) available not only to researchers affiliated with the library or

archives or with the institution of which it is a part, but also to

other persons doing research in a specialized field.

(e) Law Enforcement, Intelligence, and Other Government Activities. This

section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative,

protective, information security, or intelligence activity of an

officer, agent, or employee of the United States, a State, or a

political subdivision of a State, or a person acting pursuant to a

contract with the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of

a State. For purposes of this subsection, the term "information

security" means activities carried out in order to identify and address

the vulnerabilities of a government computer, computer system, or

computer network.

(f) Reverse Engineering. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of

subsection (a)(1)(A), a person who has lawfully obtained the right to

use a copy of a computer program may circumvent a technological measure

that effectively controls access to a particular portion of that program

for the sole purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the

program that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an

independently created computer program with other programs, and that

have not previously been readily available to the person engaging in the

circumvention, to the extent any such acts of identification and

analysis do not constitute infringement under this title.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b), a

person may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a

technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a

technological measure, in order to enable the identification and

analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling

interoperability of an independently created computer program with other

programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such interoperability,

to the extent that doing so does not constitute infringement under this

title.

(3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under paragraph

(1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be made available

to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or (2), as the case

may be, provides such information or means solely for the purpose of

enabling interoperability of an independently created computer program

with other programs, and to the extent that doing so does not constitute

infringement under this title or violate applicable law other than this

section.

(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term "interoperability" means

the ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such

programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.

(g) Encryption Research.

(1) Definitions. For purposes of this subsection-

(A) the term "encryption research" means activities necessary to

identify and analyze flaws and vulnerabilities of encryption

technologies applied to copyrighted works, if these activities are

conducted to advance the state of knowledge in the field of encryption

technology or to assist in the development of encryption products; and

(B) the term "encryption technology" means the scrambling and

descrambling of information using mathematical formulas or algorithms.

(2) Permissible Acts of Encryption Research. Notwithstanding the

provisions of subsection (a)(1)(A), it is not a violation of that

subsection for a person to circumvent a technological measure as applied

to a copy, phonorecord, performance, or display of a published work in

the course of an act of good faith encryption research if-

(A) the person lawfully obtained the encrypted copy, phonorecord,

performance, or display of the published work;

(B) such act is necessary to conduct such encryption research;

(C) the person made a good faith effort to obtain authorization before

the circumvention; and

(D) such act does not constitute infringement under this title or a

violation of applicable law other than this section, including section

1030 of title 18 and those provisions of title 18 amended by the

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

(3) Factors in Determining Exemption. In determining whether a person

qualifies for the exemption under paragraph (2), the factors to be

considered shall include-

(A) whether the information derived from the encryption research was

disseminated, and if so, whether it was disseminated in a manner

reasonably calculated to advance the state of knowledge or development

of encryption technology, versus whether it was disseminated in a manner

that facilitates infringement under this title or a violation of

applicable law other than this section, including a violation of privacy

or breach of security;

(B) whether the person is engaged in a legitimate course