The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) was passed in 1998 and became operational in October 2000. The Act led to the betterment of the US copyright law to the information age. It also ensured that the US copyright law follows her obligations under the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and WIPO Performance and Phonograms Treaty.
Miscellaneous provisions are in Title IV. It states the authority of the Copyright Office over policy and international functions as provided for under section 107 of the Copyright Act. Additionally, it broadens the part of exemption of broadcasting of ‘euphemeral’ recordings to include digital transmissions authorized by the 1995 Act on Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings. In addition to provisions for guidelines on widening the exceptions regarding instructional broadcasting, the Title included the exception for non-profit libraries and archives to include digital technologies such as phonorecords of sound recordings. Provisions on implied contractual obligations regarding collective bargaining agreements and transfer of rights in movies sum up the miscellaneous provisions in Title IV.
Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution empowers the Congress to “promote the progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” The DMCA to a larger extent gives effect this provision of the constitution. It does so by enhancing the then existing protection accorded to copyright holders and introducing new systems of protection in areas that were inadequately covered by the then existing copyright regime as discussed above. More so, it countered the threats to copyright owing to ease of infringement brought about by advancement in technology.
One big flaw with the DMCA is its omission of the ‘fair use’ doctrine. The doctrine is an embodiment of limitations to exclusive rights of copyright holders to consent to reproduction of their works. Reproduction of copies of copyrighted material for purposes such as news reporting, criticism, teaching, comment, scholarship or research do not amount to copyright infringement when fairly done. Although the concept is enshrined in the Copyright Act, it does not find any expression in the DMCA. As a result, users of digital copyrighted materials in a manner which would otherwise qualify for protection under the doctrine of ‘fair use’ are exposed to liability in copyright infringement. This paper therefore proposes a new law that will cater for such fundamental flaws of the DMCA and so expand the law as is in the Constitution (Stegmaier, 2005).
References
Nimmer, D. (2003). Copyright:Sacred Text, Technology, and the DMCA. New York: Kluwer Law International.
Stegmaier, G. M. (2005) The Digital Millennium Copyright Act 2005 Supplement New York: Pike and Fischer Inc pp 86.
The One Hundredth American Asembly. (2002). Art, Technology and Intellectual Property. New York: American assembly.
US Copyright Office. (1998, December). Copyright Legislations. Retrieved Februaury 26, 2016, from United States Government Publishng Office: http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
Wolf, C. (2003). The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Text, History, and Caselaw. Washington DC: Pike & Fischer Inc.
