Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) | Practical Law

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) | Practical Law

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Practical Law Glossary Item 7-502-2871 (Approx. 3 pages)

Glossary

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

A federal law (Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860) that implemented the following 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties:
Among other things, the DMCA:
  • Restricts the circumvention of technological measures (also known as digital rights management or DRM) used to protect copyrighted works.
  • Prohibits the tampering of any copyright management information contained in a copyrighted work.
  • Creates new limitations on liability for copyright infringement by online service providers, subject to certain conditions.
  • Expands the existing exemption in the Copyright Act relating to computer programs to allow the owner or lessee of a computer to copy a program in the course of repairing or maintaining that computer.