The critical DMCA Exemption Hearings continue today. Here is a transcript from the last hearing on April 11. We are proud to have participated in the public comment period last December:

Lawmeme's Ernest Miller has turned in what I think is an extraordinary and highly logical request for an exemption from the DMCA prohibition on copying DVDs for any purpose, including fair use recording of small segments of a DVD for review purposes. Seeing that DVDs often contain material exclusive to the DVD - interviews, behind the scenes, background on the subject, outtakes, etc. - the fact that we can't legally host clips of these DVD-exclusive segments in conjunction with reviews is a grievous disservice to our readers and to the site.

Background from the Library of Congress Copyright Office:

The Copyright Office is conducting the rulemaking proceeding mandated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which provides that the Librarian of Congress may exempt certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works.

The purpose of this proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention of access controls. This page will contain links to published documents in this proceeding.

The Notice of Inquiry in this second anticircumvention rulemaking requested written comments from all interested parties, including representatives of copyright owners, educational institutions, libraries and archives, scholars, researchers and members of the public, in order to elicit evidence on whether noninfringing uses of certain classes of works are, or are likely to be, adversely affected by this prohibition on the circumvention of measures that control access to copyrighted works. The initial round of comments (due December 18, 2002) was restricted to comments proposing exemptions for specific classes of works. Reply comments (due February 19) were submitted in opposition to or in further support of exemptions proposed in the initial comments.

The hearing schedule is here:

May 9 (Postal Rate Commission, 1333 H Street, NW., Third Floor, Washington, D.C.)
9:30 a.m.
1. Static Control Component Proposals
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