New Copyright Laws Allow Users to Unlock Phones and Copy Movie Snippets

Digital Journal - It's not often you hear the words "copyright laws" and "allow snippets from DVDs to be copied" in the same sentence. But recent news coming out of the Library of Congress indicates things might be overhauled. New changes to the laws will now allow cellphone owners to unlock their cellphone software. This gives users the ability to take their phone with them from wireless carrier to wireless carrier (Canada needs this badly). The new laws also allow film professors to copy snippets of DVDs for educational compilations, and blind people can now legally use software to read copy-protected electronic books. All in all, the changes to the U.S. law include six exemptions -- the most the Copyright Office has ever granted. James Billington, who works with the Library of Congress, says this is the first time his office has exempted groups of users, because previous rules were umbrella laws that included everyone without exception. "I am very encouraged by the fact that the Copyright Office is willing to recognize exemptions for archivists, cellphone recyclers and computer security experts," Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the civil-liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation, told AP. "Frankly I'm surprised and pleased they were granted." The reason for the cellphone change stems from the fact that consumers can't "enjoy full legal use of their because of software locks that wireless providers have been placing to control access to phones' underlying programs," AP reported. Under the new law, professors can break copy-protection technology incorporated on DVDs to make compilations for classes (there are already many programs that do this on the Net, but it's illegal to use or distribute them). Professors are applauding the effort, saying it will make it easier to teach animation classes, for example, by taking snippets from old and new movies to compare how art has evolved. There are still a few complaints, such as DVD owners not being allowed to copy their movies onto a PC for viewing on a portable multimedia device like an iPod. But the news is farily good overall. As times change, the stodgy Library of Congress is finally waking up to new realities. U.S. Copyright Office List of Exemptions