This was our intervention at SCCR 33 on the topics of exceptions to the legal protection for technological protection measures.
TPMs are an legitimate and important measure to protect certain works, data and technologies from unauthorized uses.
The issues raised by libraries and archives concern the legal protection that one gives the technological protection.
In some legal systems, the 1996 WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) has been implemented to provide automatic legal protection for all TPMs, with only very limited exceptions. Many of the problems explained by the libraries and archives illustrate concerns we share about TPMs, and there are many more unintended consequences.
One reform that we support is to be more restrained in granting legal protection to TPMs, and only provide such legal protection to TPMs that are registered, pay fees, and met standards, including addressing how legitimate exceptions to copyright can be exercised, and how works can be archived and preserved.This would not restrict the uses of TPMs, but only narrow the grounds under which legal protection is given to a technological protection.
We believe this reformed approach is consistent with Articles 11 and 12 of the WCT.