Most reporters are focused on the United States Copyright Office declaration that it is it legal to unlock or ‘jailbreak’ a mobile device from the manufacturer and network provider from which it was purchased from, which permits users to install unapproved software under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) fair use provisions. The request was made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) particularly as it applies to AT&T and Apple’s iPhone Software License agreement.
That’s because most reporters know that a story about “jailbreaking” the the iPhone will get tons of readers.
But, I was more interested in something else the Copyright Office did. It granted an exemption people remixing videos on YouTube, declaring it is not a violation of DMCA if they use excerpts from DVDs for the purpose of criticism or comment.
Wow! This means it’s okay to create YouTube remixes like 10 Things I Hate About Commandments.
Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig about copyright issues back at SES Chicago 2008. So, it appears that the Copyright Office agrees with Lessig that copyright laws need to be changed.