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Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (PDF)

Comment filed by Peter Decherney, Katherine Sender and Michael X. Delli Carpini (PDF)

Reply comments submitted by Decherney, Sender and Delli Carpini (PDF)

Recommendation of the Copyright Office (PDF)

Federal Register Notice Announcing Exemptions (PDF)

US Copyright Office Anticircumvention Rulemaking

Harvard Law Digital Learning Case Study (doc)

International Communication Association

Society for Cinema and Media Studies

Frequently Asked Questions

DMCA FAQ (View PDF)

What if I want to use a clip in my Sociology course, or Chemistry course, or another discipline?
This exemption is limited to educational use of media in Film or Media Studies department libraries. The exemption was granted, in part, because we made the argument that people teaching in Film and Media Studies departments need to use high-quality digital clips for analysis. Other fields may also have a need for high quality digital clips. But we couldn’t speak for them. We encourage members of other disciplines to mobilize their professional organizations to make the case for new exemptions in 2009.

What if my Media Studies department does not have a media library?
The exemption is limited to departmental libraries in order to limit access to media educators. Perhaps an existing library can be recategorized? Or perhaps this is an opportunity to lobby for the creation of a departmental library. If you teach media but don’t have a departmental library, please let us know. That information will be very helpful when we renew (and possibly alter) the exemption in 2009.

What if I teach media in a department not named in the exemption (Department of Communication, Center for Internet Studies. etc.)?
In our interpretation, if the department’s primary goal is to teach media, then it is a department of Media Studies, regardless of its name.

I’m clearly not covered by the exemption, but I need to use a clip from a DVD for teaching.
If you do not need full DVD quality, you might consider making an analog copy. It is still a fair use to export a video from a DVD through an analog out port in order to make a clip. You will get a broadcast television quality image. The DMCA does not limit this use, so you don’t need a DMCA exemption to make the clip.

Can I put a clip made using the exemption on the Internet?  
The exemption only covers the bypassing of encryption in order to make/capture clips for use in the classroom.

Does this cover video games?
This covers all audiovisual digital media, not just DVDs.

More questions? Please write to us. decherney@sas.upenn.edu or ksender@asc.upenn.edu