Court Should Uphold Digital Millennium Copyright Act Precedent in Green V. DOJ, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON—Ahead of the Green v. U.S. Department of Justice case on September 12, 2022, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the leading think tank for science and technology policy, released the following statement from Jaci McDole, senior policy analyst at ITIF:

The D.C. Circuit Court should follow the precedent set by other courts in upholding Section 1201(a) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention prohibition. Having legal access to both a lock-picking kit and the outside of a locked door does not give one the right to illegal entry, yet this is what the plaintiffs seek under the guise of free speech.

The public does not have a right to circumvent subscription-based platforms to gain unfettered access to creators’ works free of charge. The U.S. Constitution provides creators certain rights and controls for a reason: IP protections offer creators compensation opportunities as a reward for the time, money, energy, and other resources invested in creating works. The sale, controlled distribution, and protection of those works are creators’ livelihoods. Therefore, in this case, the constitutional consideration must be for those IP rights granted to creators in the Constitution of the United States.