Portugal Bans Use of DRM to Limit Access to Public Domain Works - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE]The amendments to Articles 217 and 221 of Portugal's Code of Copyright and Related Rights do three things. First, they provide that the anti-circumvention ban doesn't apply to circumvention of DRM in order to enjoy the normal exercise of copyright limitations and exceptions that are provided by Portuguese law. Although Portugal doesn't have a generalized fair use exception, the more specific copyright exceptions in Articles 75(2), 81, 152(4) and 189(1) of its law do include some key fair uses; including reproduction for private use, for news reporting, by libraries and archives, in teaching and education, in quotation, for persons with disabilities, and for digitizing orphan works. The circumvention of DRM in order to exercise these user rights is now legally protected. Second and perhaps even more significantly, the law prohibits the application of DRM to certain categories of works in the first place. These are works in the public domain (including new editions of works already in the public domain), and to works published or financed by the government. This provision alone will be a boon for libraries, archives, and for those with disabilities, ensuring that they never again have to worry about being unable to access or preserve works that ought to be free for everyone to use. The application of DRM to such works will now be an offence under the law, and if DRM has been applied to such works nevertheless, it will be permitted for a user to circumvent it. The law doesn't abolish legal protection for DRM altogether—unfortunately, that wouldn't be possible for Portugal to do unilaterally, because it would be inconsistent with European Union law and with the WIPO Copyright Treaty to which the EU is a signatory. [/QUOTE] [URL="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/10/portugal-bans-use-drm-limit-access-public-domain-works"]Source[/URL] DRM as a whole is often used as a loophole to kinda get around consumer rights, its pretty good of portugal to close at least one of those loopholes. It's unfortunate that DRM is so embedded in international treaties and similar despite being so destructive once companies begin to understand how to exploit it by just putting paper thin drm on everything as a legal basis for suing people who would otherwise be exercising rights. (In most countries DRM doesnt affect the legality of doing a bad thing, ex pirating a movie is unlawful either way regardless of the laws surrounding DRM, but also makes things that are supposed to be legal illegal like backing up your library, accessing public domain etc.)

i wish we would do that here but these are not things republicans care about

[QUOTE=Sableye;52817835]i wish we would do that here but these are not things republicans care about[/QUOTE] Part of public domain works is that they're exactly that. If someone wants to sell them or incorporate them into a new product, they're free to, with DRM and copyright. [editline]24th October 2017[/editline] Really, the irony is this hurts the public domain as a concept.

Good, now let's ban use of DRM in general throughout the western world.