COPYRIGHT ACT

« 17 USC Sec. 1101 | Index | 17 USC Sec. 1202 »

17 USC Sec. 1201 - Circumvention of copyright protection systems

      (a) Violations Regarding Circumvention of Technological Measures.

    - (1)(A) No person shall circumvent a technological measure that

    effectively controls access to a work protected under 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

    rulemaking, 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 of

        study, is employed, or is appropriately trained or experienced,

        in the field of encryption technology; and

          (C) whether the person provides the copyright owner of the

        work to which the technological measure is applied with notice

        of the findings and documentation of the research, and the time

        when such notice is provided.

        (4) Use of technological means for research activities. -

      Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(2), it is not a

      violation of that subsection for a person to -

          (A) develop and employ technological means to circumvent a

        technological measure for the sole purpose of that person

        performing the acts of good faith encryption research described

        in paragraph (2); and

          (B) provide the technological means to another person with

        whom he or she is working collaboratively for the purpose of

        conducting the acts of good faith encryption research described

        in paragraph (2) or for the purpose of having that other person

        verify his or her acts of good faith encryption research

        described in paragraph (2).

        (5) Report to congress. - Not later than 1 year after the date

      of the enactment of this chapter, the Register of Copyrights and

      the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the

      Department of Commerce shall jointly report to the Congress on

      the effect this subsection has had on -

          (A) encryption research and the development of encryption

        technology;

          (B) the adequacy and effectiveness of technological measures

        designed to protect copyrighted works; and

          (C) protection of copyright owners against the unauthorized

        access to their encrypted copyrighted works.

      The report shall include legislative recommendations, if any.

      (h) Exceptions Regarding Minors. - In applying subsection (a) to

    a component or part, the court may consider the necessity for its

    intended and actual incorporation in a technology, product,

    service, or device, which -

        (1) does not itself violate the provisions of this title; and

        (2) has the sole purpose to prevent the access of minors to

      material on the Internet.

      (i) Protection of Personally Identifying Information. -

        (1) Circumvention permitted. - Notwithstanding the provisions

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

      for a person to circumvent a technological measure that

      effectively controls access to a work protected under this title,

      if -

          (A) the technological measure, or the work it protects,

        contains the capability of collecting or disseminating

        personally identifying information reflecting the online

        activities of a natural person who seeks to gain access to the

        work protected;

          (B) in the normal course of its operation, the technological

        measure, or the work it protects, collects or disseminates

        personally identifying information about the person who seeks

        to gain access to the work protected, without providing

        conspicuous notice of such collection or dissemination to such

        person, and without providing such person with the capability

        to prevent or restrict such collection or dissemination;

          (C) the act of circumvention has the sole effect of

        identifying and disabling the capability described in

        subparagraph (A), and has no other effect on the ability of any

        person to gain access to any work; and

          (D) the act of circumvention is carried out solely for the

        purpose of preventing the collection or dissemination of

        personally identifying information about a natural person who

        seeks to gain access to the work protected, and is not in

        violation of any other law.

        (2) Inapplicability to certain technological measures. - This

      subsection does not apply to a technological measure, or a work

      it protects, that does not collect or disseminate personally

      identifying information and that is disclosed to a user as not

      having or using such capability.

      (j) Security Testing. -

        (1) Definition. - For purposes of this subsection, the term

      ''security testing'' means accessing a computer, computer system,

      or computer network, solely for the purpose of good faith

      testing, investigating, or correcting, a security flaw or

      vulnerability, with the authorization of the owner or operator of

      such computer, computer system, or computer network.

        (2) Permissible acts of security testing. - Notwithstanding the

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

      subsection for a person to engage in an act of security testing,

      if 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 security testing

        was used solely to promote the security of the owner or

        operator of such computer, computer system or computer network,

        or shared directly with the developer of such computer,

        computer system, or computer network; and

          (B) whether the information derived from the security testing

        was used or maintained in a manner that does not facilitate

        infringement under this title or a violation of applicable law

        other than this section, including a violation of privacy or

        breach of security.

        (4) Use of technological means for security testing. -

      Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(2), it is not a

      violation of that subsection for a person to develop, produce,

      distribute or employ technological means for the sole purpose of

      performing the acts of security testing described in subsection

      (2), (FOOTNOTE 1) provided such technological means does not

      otherwise violate section (FOOTNOTE 2) (a)(2).

       (FOOTNOTE 1) So in original.  Probably should be subsection

    ''(a)(2),''.

       (FOOTNOTE 2) So in original.  Probably should be ''subsection''.

      (k) Certain Analog Devices and Certain Technological Measures. -

        (1) Certain analog devices. -

          (A) Effective 18 months after the date of the enactment of

        this chapter, no person shall manufacture, import, offer to the

        public, provide or otherwise traffic in any -

            (i) VHS format analog video cassette recorder unless such

          recorder conforms to the automatic gain control copy control

          technology;

            (ii) 8mm format analog video cassette camcorder unless such

          camcorder conforms to the automatic gain control technology;

            (iii) Beta format analog video cassette recorder, unless

          such recorder conforms to the automatic gain control copy

          control technology, except that this requirement shall not

          apply until there are 1,000 Beta format analog video cassette

          recorders sold in the United States in any one calendar year

          after the date of the enactment of this chapter;

            (iv) 8mm format analog video cassette recorder that is not

          an analog video cassette camcorder, unless such recorder

          conforms to the automatic gain control copy control

          technology, except that this requirement shall not apply

          until there are 20,000 such recorders sold in the United

          States in any one calendar year after the date of the

          enactment of this chapter; or

            (v) analog video cassette recorder that records using an

          NTSC format video input and that is not otherwise covered

          under clauses (i) through (iv), unless such device conforms

          to the automatic gain control copy control technology.

          (B) Effective on the date of the enactment of this chapter,

        no person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public,

        provide or otherwise traffic in -

            (i) any VHS format analog video cassette recorder or any

          8mm format analog video cassette recorder if the design of

          the model of such recorder has been modified after such date

          of enactment so that a model of recorder that previously

          conformed to the automatic gain control copy control

          technology no longer conforms to such technology; or

            (ii) any VHS format analog video cassette recorder, or any

          8mm format analog video cassette recorder that is not an 8mm

          analog video cassette camcorder, if the design of the model

          of such recorder has been modified after such date of

          enactment so that a model of recorder that previously

          conformed to the four-line colorstripe copy control

          technology no longer conforms to such technology.

        Manufacturers that have not previously manufactured or sold a

        VHS format analog video cassette recorder, or an 8mm format

        analog cassette recorder, shall be required to conform to the

        four-line colorstripe copy control technology in the initial

        model of any such recorder manufactured after the date of the

        enactment of this chapter, and thereafter to continue

        conforming to the four-line colorstripe copy control

        technology.  For purposes of this subparagraph, an analog video

        cassette recorder ''conforms to'' the four-line colorstripe

        copy control technology if it records a signal that, when

        played back by the playback function of that recorder in the

        normal viewing mode, exhibits, on a reference display device, a

        display containing distracting visible lines through portions

        of the viewable picture.

        (2) Certain encoding restrictions. - No person shall apply the

      automatic gain control copy control technology or colorstripe

      copy control technology to prevent or limit consumer copying

      except such copying -

          (A) of a single transmission, or specified group of

        transmissions, of live events or of audiovisual works for which

        a member of the public has exercised choice in selecting the

        transmissions, including the content of the transmissions or

        the time of receipt of such transmissions, or both, and as to

        which such member is charged a separate fee for each such

        transmission or specified group of transmissions;

          (B) from a copy of a transmission of a live event or an

        audiovisual work if such transmission is provided by a channel

        or service where payment is made by a member of the public for

        such channel or service in the form of a subscription fee that

        entitles the member of the public to receive all of the

        programming contained in such channel or service;

          (C) from a physical medium containing one or more prerecorded

        audiovisual works; or

          (D) from a copy of a transmission described in subparagraph

        (A) or from a copy made from a physical medium described in

        subparagraph (C).

      In the event that a transmission meets both the conditions set

      forth in subparagraph (A) and those set forth in subparagraph

      (B), the transmission shall be treated as a transmission

      described in subparagraph (A).

        (3) Inapplicability. - This subsection shall not -

          (A) require any analog video cassette camcorder to conform to

        the automatic gain control copy control technology with respect

        to any video signal received through a camera lens;

          (B) apply to the manufacture, importation, offer for sale,

        provision of, or other trafficking in, any professional analog

        video cassette recorder; or

          (C) apply to the offer for sale or provision of, or other

        trafficking in, any previously owned analog video cassette

        recorder, if such recorder was legally manufactured and sold

        when new and not subsequently modified in violation of

        paragraph (1)(B).

        (4) Definitions. - For purposes of this subsection:

          (A) An ''analog video cassette recorder'' means a device that

        records, or a device that includes a function that records, on

        electromagnetic tape in an analog format the electronic

        impulses produced by the video and audio portions of a

        television program, motion picture, or other form of

        audiovisual work.

          (B) An ''analog video cassette camcorder'' means an analog

        video cassette recorder that contains a recording function that

        operates through a camera lens and through a video input that

        may be connected with a television or other video playback

        device.

          (C) An analog video cassette recorder ''conforms'' to the

        automatic gain control copy control technology if it -

            (i) detects one or more of the elements of such technology

          and does not record the motion picture or transmission

          protected by such technology; or

            (ii) records a signal that, when played back, exhibits a

          meaningfully distorted or degraded display.

          (D) The term ''professional analog video cassette recorder''

        means an analog video cassette recorder that is designed,

        manufactured, marketed, and intended for use by a person who

        regularly employs such a device for a lawful business or

        industrial use, including making, performing, displaying,

        distributing, or transmitting copies of motion pictures on a

        commercial scale.

          (E) The terms ''VHS format'', ''8mm format'', ''Beta

        format'', ''automatic gain control copy control technology'',

        ''colorstripe copy control technology'', ''four-line version of

        the colorstripe copy control technology'', and ''NTSC'' have

        the meanings that are commonly understood in the consumer

        electronics and motion picture industries as of the date of the

        enactment of this chapter.

        (5) Violations. - Any violation of paragraph (1) of this

      subsection shall be treated as a violation of subsection (b)(1)

      of this section.  Any violation of paragraph (2) of this

      subsection shall be deemed an ''act of circumvention'' for the

      purposes of section 1203(c)(3)(A) of this chapter.

-SOURCE-

    (Added Pub. L. 105-304, title I, Sec. 103(a), Oct. 28, 1998, 112

    Stat. 2863; amended Pub. L. 106-113, div.  B, Sec. 1000(a)(9)

    (title V, Sec. 5006), Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-594.)

-REFTEXT-

                             REFERENCES IN TEXT

      The date of the enactment of this chapter, referred to in

    subsecs. (a)(1)(A), (g)(5), and (k)(1), (4)(E), is the date of

    enactment of Pub. L. 105-304, which was approved Oct. 28, 1998.

      The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, referred to in subsecs.

    (g)(2)(D) and (j)(2), is Pub. L. 99-474, Oct. 16, 1986, 100 Stat.

    1213, which amended section 1030 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal

    Procedure, and enacted provisions set out as a note under section

    1001 of Title 18. For complete classification of this Act to the

    Code, see Short Title of 1986 Amendment note set out under section

    1001 of Title 18 and Tables.

-MISC2-

                                 AMENDMENTS

      1999 - Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 106-113 struck out ''on the

    record'' after ''determination in a rulemaking proceeding'' in

    first sentence.

-SECREF-

                   SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

      This section is referred to in sections 112, 114, 1203, 1204 of

    this title.

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