PK Advocates for Right to Repair in DMCA Case

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201 violates the First Amendment by limiting accessibility, security and right to repair, Public Knowledge said Thursday. PK joined some 15 accessibility, security and repair advocates in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Green v. DOJ (see 2201140045). The court will decide whether appellants can proceed with a constitutional challenge against Section 1201. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a 2016 lawsuit on behalf of researcher Matthew Green and technologist Andrew Huang, whose fair use projects, according to EFF, could “run afoul” of the DMCA’s “anti-speech provisions.” The exemption process Congress built into Section 1201 doesn’t “provide the adequate balance between copyright protection and fair use because it overly favors rights holders,” said PK Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke.