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1: McDonald’s Busted Ice Cream Machines Can Now Be Fixed — Legally
First off today, Emma Roth at The Verge reports that the US Copyright Office (USCO) has released their final rule for exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it legal for owners to circumvent digital locks to repair retail-level food preparation equipment.
Under the DMCA, circumventing digital locks is a copyright infringement. However, the USCO publishes a list of exceptions to the blanket rule every three years. This time, several groups pushed for an exemption on repairing retail food equipment, including the infamous McDonald’s ice cream machine.
The USCO has granted that exemption. Though it is not as broad as some had hoped, it will allow franchise owners to legally repair their machines, regardless of what digital protections might be blocking it.
2: Video Game Libraries Lose Legal Appeal to Emulate Physical Game Collections Online
Next up today, Kyle Orland at Ars Technica reports that the same DMCA exemption rulings have also disappointed video game archivists, who did not receive an exemption for the preservation of video games.
The Entertainment Software Association, which the USCO sided with, opposed the move. They claimed such an exemption could serve as a loophole for a free “online arcade” of copyright-protected works.
A similar exemption already exists for “functional” software. However, the USCO claimed a similar fair use argument does not exist for video games, saying that they are highly expressive in nature.
3: Fish Co. In Providence Accused of Copyright Infringement Over Karaoke Songs
Finally, today, Gabrielle Caracciolo at WJAR reports that a Providence, Rhode Island bar is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit over using unlicensed karaoke music.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) filed the lawsuit. ASCAP represents songwriters and music publishers and licenses their music for use in businesses such as bars and restaurants.
According to ASCAP, they attempted to contact the bar more than 80 times to address the licensing issues. The lawsuit seeks damages between $750 and $30,000 for the three songs identified.
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