US Copyright Office rejects DMCA waiver supporting remote access to out-of-print games

The US Copyright Administrative Center has not accepted a DMCA waiver proposed through the Video Game History Footer that could help preserve the game.

The VGHF has been running with the Device Preservation Community since 2021 its marketing campaign to “enable libraries and archives to remotely share digital access to out-of-print games in their collections.”

In a statement, it said that under current anti-circumvention laws in DMCA Category 1201, those institutions “cannot break copy protection on games to make them remotely accessible to researchers.”

The Copyright Administrative Center’s decision is reflected on page 191 of the Copyright Guide to the Registries, which cites comments from the Entertainment Devices Association that instructed the VGHF “[did] “We are not proposing a clear requirement to know who users are or why they want to access a game.”

“Proponents [of video game preservation] “We have not met the burden of demonstrating that it is likely to be fair to reproduce works to permit simultaneous multiple use in the class of computer programs,” said Shira Perlmutter, director of the U.S. Copyright Administrative Center, which oversees rights. author.

“The Registry also finds that proponents have not met their burden of demonstrating that the off-premises uses proposed in the video game class are likely to be fair.”

Perlmutter further found the VGHF’s ​​stance on emulation “inconsistent and incomplete and the technologies are not addressed in the waiver text.”

During its hearing with the Copyright Administrative Center, the VGHF stated that the ESA “declared [it] would never support remote access to games for research purposes under any conditions.”

The ESA previously rejected a DMCA amendment aimed at keeping online games isolated in 2018.

“The absolutist position of the games industry, which ESA members themselves have refused to officially support, forces researchers to explore extralegal methods to access the vast majority of discontinued video games that would otherwise be unavailable “says the VGHF. wrote.

“We will continue to advocate for greater access and legal allowance for the preservation of video games and work with members of the gaming industry to increase internal awareness of these issues.”

Last July, the VGHF conducted a study that found that 87% of video games are “critically endangered” as maintaining them has become increasingly complicated.