U.S. Copyright Office Rejects DMCA Exemption for Remote Access to Games

Oct 25, 2024, 06:52 PM

In a recent ruling, the U.S. Copyright Office sided with the gaming industry, rejecting a DMCA exemption that would have allowed researchers to remotely access old and out-of-print games for study purposes. Proponents of the remote access argued that human review and warnings could mitigate market harms, but the Copyright Office found these measures insufficiently specific to prevent potential market damage. Additionally, libraries cannot share remotely emulated versions of physical games.