5th Cir. decision narrows restrictive power of DRM within that circuit's jurisdiction, but... -- by @reckless on @engadget [Copyright]
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I mentioned earlier today that updated rules from the Library of Congress mean it's okay to jailbreak phones, use brief clips from movies in your own mashups, and drag your unlocked phone to any carrier you want.
Engadget Managing Editor and recovering patent attorney Nilay Patel offers some great insight on the opinion (a PDF of which is included in this post), from the Fifth Circuit. The decision limits the restrictive power of digital rights management (DRM) constructs aimed at preventing unauthorized copying of copyrighted works, but it doesn't invalidate them.While on the one hand, as my headline suggests, the restriction is narrower following the ruling, Patel's analysis focuses on reminding everyone of a very important distinction, and the whole post is worth a read, for background facts and more of Patel's cogent reading of the opinion. His main point, as I read it, is that yes, people in Fifth Circuit jurisdictions (Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) could theoretically rip a movie clip from a DVD for use in their own video mashup (something also okay under the aforementioned Library of Congress rule change) BUT:it's still very much illegal to strip copy protection DRM off a video in order to transfer it to a portable media player, for example, since you're making an unauthorized copy. It's a subtle, but extremely important distinction.
Source: Engadget
