Copyright and the modern car: Colliding visions of the public good in DMCA section 1201 anti-circumvention proceedings

Abstract

In 2015, a debate unfolded over who should be allowed to access vehicular software for the purposes of repair, maintenance, and modification. Conducted as part of the triennial anticircumvention exemptions proceedings of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, this debate surfaced tensions that had long been brewing about copyright’s applicability to computer software, with the added complication that rather than personal computers, the devices being discussed were cars, trucks, and tractors. At stake was whether copyright was the appropriate tool for striking the balance between economic incentivization and individual autonomy—and whether that was really the balance in question. I argue, rather, that while copyright law has been written and interpreted with these two conflicting goals in mind, a third goal is possible: the public good served through communal and sustainable commitments. By re-prioritizing this goal, we could rewrite copyright to could lead us to a more equitable future.