Brazil’s copyright law forbids using DRM to block fair use

“A UN treaty called the WIPO Copyright Treaty requires countries
to pass laws protecting “software locks” (also called DRM or TPM).
Countries around the world have adopted the treaty in different
ways: in the US, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits all
circumvention of software locks, even when they don’t protect
copyright (for example, it would be illegal to for me to break the
DRM on a Kindle to access my own novels, were they sold with Kindle
DRM).

“Brazil has just created the best-ever implementation of WCT. In
Brazil’s version of the law, you can break DRM without breaking the
law, provided you’re not also committing a copyright violation. And
what’s more, any rightsholder who adds a DRM that restricts things
that are allowed by Brazilian copyright laws (“fair dealing” or
“fair use”) faces a fine.

“It’s a fine and balanced approach to copyright law: your
software locks have the power of law where they act to uphold the
law. When they take away rights the law gives, they are themselves
illegal.”

Complete
Story