The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the First Amendment: Section 1201’s Disruptive Effects on the Fair Use Doctrine

Although the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) does not impede First Amendment rights directly, it does infringe on First Amendment rights indirectly as it impedes the functional operation of the right to fair use. Specifically, in the implementation of the anti-circumvention provision, the DMCA unfairly restricts fair use. The right to fair use is cited as one of the inherent balancers of First Amendment issues within the Copyright Clause thus, as the right to fair use is restricted under the DMCA, the current Copyright Clause creates challenges for the functional operation of First Amendment rights within copyright law