Forced trailers and copy-protected bonus materials are in and backup copies of DVDs are out under an updated rule from the U.S. Copyright Office. The Register of Copyrights and Librarian of Congress are required to review proposed exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)’s anticircumvention provision every three years and make recommendations as to what uses should be exempted.

The Librarian allowed four exemptions: defeating censorware designed to prevent children from viewing inappropriate materials online; defeating computer programs protected with dongles – hardware locks – that are damaged or malfunction; computer programs and video games in obsolete formats or platforms; and electronic books that prevent use of a read-aloud feature that essentially denies access to the blind.

Many of the rejected proposals appear to advance the interests of movie studios and other content providers. Watchdog group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had sought exemptions for skipping trailers even when studios use a lock that prevents viewers from skipping them, defeating region codes and open use of movies that are in the public domain. All were denied in the rulemaking.

"[T]he proponents desire to make backup copies of their DVDs for a variety of purposes; they claim that DVDs are inherently fragile and subject to damage; they are concerned about loss or theft during travel; they wish to duplicate collections to avoid the risks and burdens of transporting DVDs, they assert that some titles are out of print and cannot be replaced in case of damage; and they claim that the duration of a DVD’s lifespan is limited," the Librarian wrote. "The proponents have not made the case with respect to fragility of DVDs, nor have they shown the making of backup copies of DVDs is a noninfringing use."