[game_preservation] Status of DMCA exemption relevant to game preservation

[Andrew Armstrong]

Interesting, and if I was in the USA I'd really want to help. I hope you 
get some support for putting comments forward for this! It's a real 
shame circumventing "DRM" or "copy protection" is special for software, 
sigh. (It's like taking your cake and eating it too).

Shall I post this on the blog?

Andrew

Henry Lowood wrote:

> I am forwarding an important e-mail from our Library of Congress 

> project group from Rachel Donahue at UIUC.  Some of you probably know 

> that the original exemption discussed before was spearheaded by the 

> Internet Archive (with the point of the spear being our own Simon 

> Carless, past chair of the SIG), with some support from Stanford and 

> others.  One of the many problems with DMCA is that these exemptions 

> only last three years (I believe), which is ridiculous.  Anyway, 

> please read Rachel's note.  Maybe there is someone here who will want 

> to take up the cause and look into what can be done in the short 

> time-frame available, if anything at all is feasible.

>

> Rachel's note:

>

> A new set of DMCA exemptions is up for approval. Unfortunately, the 

> old  exemption that we semi-relied on:

>

> "Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have 

> become  obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a 

> condition of  access, when circumvention is accomplished for the 

> purpose of preservation  or archival reproduction of published digital 

> works by a library or  archive. A format shall be considered obsolete 

> if the machine or system  necessary to render perceptible a work 

> stored in that format is no longer  manufactured or is no longer 

> reasonably available in the commercial  marketplace."

>

> Has not made the list of proposed classes, and I'm not sure that old  

> exemptions are automatically considered for renewal. There's a 

> procedure  for "untimely submissions of proposed classes based on 

> exceptional or  unforeseen circumstances," but it requires a petition 

> and a good defense  of why it couldn't have been submitted eariler and 

> why it should be  considered after the deadline.

>

> There are a few relating to computer programs and literature that we 

> may  want to consider commenting on. The comment period closes 

> February 2,  2009. All of the proposals, and the comment submission 

> form, are available  here:

>

> http://www.copyright.gov/1201/

>

> One thing in our favor is that, "this rulemaking addresses only the  

> prohibition on the conduct of circumventing measures that control 

> "access"  to copyrighted works," and all other activities continue to 

> be covered by  section 106/fair use. That doesn't save us from 

> contract law, but it does  make preservation actions a bit less 

> legally grey.

>

> Cheers,

> Rach

>

>  Rachel Donahue

>  Graduate Assistant

>  Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities

>  University of Maryland, College Park

>  College Park, MD

>

>