The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed by the United States Congress on October 12, 1998 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28. It implements two treaties from the December 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) conference held in Geneva, the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty. Aside from this, it addresses specific copyright issues.

The DMCA effectively criminalizes the production and distribution of technology designed to bypass or get around copyright protection. It also imposes strict measures against copyright infringement on the Internet. Under the DMCA:

• any form of circumventing anti-piracy measures is a crime;
• the manufacture or sale of means of illegally copying software, instruments used in cracking codes, for example, is against the law;
• code-cracking is allowed when done for purposes of research and testing computer security;
• nonprofit educational institutions are protected from liability resulting from copyright infringement of faculty members and graduate students, when done under certain circumstances; and
• record companies are entitled to certain fees to be paid by “webcasters.”

The DMCA consists of five parts.

• Title I: WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act - Title I focuses on the implementation of the WIPO treaties. It has two main features’, a section that amends laws on US copy prevention, and a second section that contains the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions. The latter amends Title 17 of the US Code by prohibiting the circumvention of measures to protect copyrighted works and prohibiting the tampering of copyright information. Criminal penalties as well as civil remedies are prescribed for violations.
• Title II: Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) - In Title II, a new section is added to the Copyright Act. Section 512 limits the liability of online service providers when engaging in the transmission of information, caching or temporarily storing information on a cache, hosting material that infringes on another’s copyright, and linking to sites with infringing material. It also features special rules for faculty members and graduate student researchers of nonprofit educational institutions.
• Title III: Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act - Title III allows temporary copies of computer programs to be made for purposes of repair and maintenance. It amends Section 117 of the Copyright Act.
• Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - There are six provisions in this section of the DMCA: the extension of the functions of the Copyright Office, exemptions to the Copyright Act for making ephemeral recordings or copies for broadcasting purposes, provisions to promote and facilitate distance education through digital technology, exemptions that allow libraries to keep copies of recordings, provisions for “webcasts” or broadcasting on the Internet, and the application of obligations in the transfer of rights of motion pictures.
• Title V: Vessel Hull Design Protection Act - Title V amends Title 17 of the US Code and focuses on protecting the designs of hulls (including decks) in ships not more than 200 feet long. Previously, the design of a ship’s hull was not protected by copyright law because it could not easily be separated from its function.

• White House Creates “Copyright Czar” Cabinet Level Position
• Air Force Demands Removal of “Viral” Recruitment Video from YouTube
• Download Music — Pay $222,000!