{
  "id": "R44590",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R44590",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 587795,
      "date": "2016-08-11",
      "retrieved": "2019-05-03T15:35:59.800614",
      "title": "Repair, Modification, or Resale of Software-Enabled Consumer Electronic Devices: Copyright Law Issues",
      "summary": "Modern consumer electronic devices and products often contain software programs that facilitate their operations or provide automation, Wi-Fi and smartphone connectivity, remote control, and other sophisticated functions. Equipment manufacturers have integrated software in televisions, refrigerators, thermostats, coffee makers, garage door openers, automobiles, vacuums, printers, and medical devices. When consumers buy these \u201csoftware-enabled\u201d products from retailers, they acquire ownership of the physical hardware, but may only receive a limited license (a form of legal permission) to use the embedded software. However, the software license\u2019s terms and conditions may restrain certain consumer behavior after purchasing the product. Some consumer rights organizations and civil liberties groups have raised concerns that software licensing, in restricting the unauthorized resale of a product or prohibiting certain product modifications or repairs, unnecessarily limits how consumers can use software-enabled products. \nIn addition, some products may include \u201cdigital rights management\u201d (DRM) technologies that prevent consumers from altering the installed software or control the types of accessories that may be used with them. For example, manufacturers have installed DRM in gourmet coffee makers and printers to prevent consumers from using generic, unlicensed coffee pods and toner cartridges, respectively, that are usually cheaper and easier to acquire than brand-name, manufacturer-authorized parts. Wireless carriers have also used DRM in smartphones to prevent the devices from connecting to, and operating on, unauthorized cellular networks. Thus, consumers with such \u201clocked\u201d cellphones cannot use them on a different service provider\u2019s network once their contract has expired with their original mobile carrier.\nIt may seem unusual that copyright law has any application or relevance to consumer electronic products. After all, such products do not, by themselves, fall within the traditional categories of copyrightable subject matter: literary, musical, dramatic, and pictorial works; motion pictures; and sound recordings. Yet the software embedded in many consumer electronic products may be subject to copyright protection; thus, these devices contain copyrighted content. As a result, copyright law may impact the rights of consumers to repair, modify, or sell their personal property that contains copyrighted software, to the extent that such activities involve making changes to the software or transferring ownership of the product with the original software still running on it. Consumers or businesses that engage in such actions with respect to software-enabled electronic products, without the authorization of the software developer or original equipment manufacturer, may be in violation of the federal Copyright Act. \nThis report provides a discussion and analysis of copyright law issues that may be implicated by the repair, modification, or resale of software-enabled consumer electronic devices. These issues include software licensing, fair use, the first sale doctrine, and the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It also examines state and federal legislation that has been offered related to this issue, including the You Own Devices Act (H.R. 862), Breaking Down Barriers to Innovation Act of 2015 (S. 990), and the Unlocking Technology Act of 2015 (H.R. 1587).",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
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          "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44590",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4806,
          "name": "Manufacturing Policy"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": []
}