clouin.com

French Bill on Copyright and DRM Interoperability

The French bill on copyright generates quite a bit of attention. Opinions abound and some of them entertain confusion – whether intentionally or not – as to the actual bill’s content, especially regarding DRM interoperability.

Without getting too technical, this post aims to clarify the bill’s actual content. Overall, this bill is a balancing act between promoting interoperability and getting tougher on IP violations.

The bill is also very straightforward on DRM interoperability. It creates the article L-331-5 in the French Intellectual Property Code (CPI) that:

-         protects DRM, as a valid tool to enforce copyright, and authorizes encryption and other technical methods;

-         prohibits DRM to prevent interoperability;

-         mandates DRM providers to make available technical documentation, APIs, an example of protected work, along with meta-data;

-         allows any interested party to claim access to this information in civil court, without undue financial burden;

-         prevents DRM to hamper personal copy and fair use of copyrighted material; and

-         grants protection to any program interoperating with a DRM;

Whether the French Senate would strike down this provision, remains to be seen, but as it stands, this bill would effectively require Apple to make its DRM interoperable.