Lexmark, the DMCA, & Effects on 'Fair Use'
James Brian Beckham · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2003
Examines the necessity of preserving exemptions in the DMCA for interoperability and fair use. Case law relying on the DMCA's anticircumvention provisions has spurred debate over the proper scope of the limited monopolies to be granted to authors. Specifically, the effect of the decision in Lexmark v. Static Control Components re-iterated many of the concerns of DMCA opponents. In conclusion, while the decisions in Corley and Reimerdes point to the conclusion that fair uses and defenses under Sony are precluded by an allegation of circumvention, the reading of the DMCA in Lexmark which seems to stand for the proposition that successful defenses in reverse engineering, and by equivalence, fair use, etc., will preclude violation of an anticircumvention provision. In keeping with the goals of copyright, by a broad reading of the DMCA, substantial non-infringing uses should remain the standard by which otherwise contributorily infringing devices are judged, not sole non-infringing uses.