COPYRIGHT IN AN ELECTRONIC AGE This information is based on a summary of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prepared by the U.S. Library of Congress. Today's technological innovations present almost limitless opportunities for the worldwide distribution of copyrighted works. But these same technologies make it possible for anyone to pirate works with a single keystroke.     To address this situation, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) passed the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty (WPPT) in December 1996, marking the most extensive revision of international law in over 25 years. These treaties, once ratified by at least 30 member states, will grant writers, artists, and other creators of copyrighted material global protection from electronic piracy. (Refer to section on “International Policy Accords” for information on these treaties.)     Following from this, on October 12, 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28. The act implements the two WIPO treaties; it also contains provisions addressing related matters for the electronic age. Title I: WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998, amends U.S. law in order to extend protection to those works required to be protected under the WIPO treaties and to restore copyright protection in the same circumstances to works from WCT and WPPT member countries. This title also creates new prohibitions to prevent circumventng technological measures built into most commercial software to protect copyrighted works and to prevent tampering with the integrity of copyright management information. Title II: Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act, creates four new limitations on liability for copyright infringement by online service providers. Specifically, it limits the liability of service providers: Where the provider merely acts as a data conduit, transmitting digital information from one point on a net to another at someone else's request; For the practice of retaining copies, for a limited time, of material that has been made available online by a person other than the provider and then transmitted to a subscriber at his or her direction; the service provider retains the material to fill subsequent requests, rather than retrieving the material again from the original source on the network; For infringing material on Web sites hosted on their systems and for referring or linking users to a site that contains infringing materials by using hyperlinks, online directories, search engines, and similar tools, if the provider is not aware of the infringing activity, does not receive a direct financial benefit from it, and, if notified, takes down or blocks access to the information. Title III: Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act, expands an existing exemption in the U.S. Copyright Act to permit the owner or lessee of a computer to make or authorize the making of a copy of a computer program while repairing or maintaining that computer. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions, contains provisions that, among other things: Grant an exemption for making “ephemeral recordings” recordings made to facilitate a transmission — to allow a radio station to broadcast from the new recording rather than from original CDs that must be changed “on the fly” during a broadcast; Require the U.S. Register of Copyrights to recommend to the Congress how to promote distance education through digital technologies while “maintaining an appropriate balance between the rights of copyright owners and the needs of users.” Allow nonprofit libraries and archives to make up to three copies, which may be digital, of a work provided that digital copies are not made available to the public outside the library premises. Require that “Webcasters” — those making digital transmissions of sound recordings over the Internet using streaming audio technologies — pay licensing fees to record companies. Back to top