tracking and reporting on legal issues in various courts: 

• 2019 Begins with new regulations on Spare Parts in the European Union

  • You’ll soon be able to buy spare parts for your refrigerator and washing machines in the EU — but not here.

• 2018 DMCA 1201 Copyright Exemptions Granted for Repair of Nearly Everything - Major Victory !!

  • Yes — you can fix your phone, tractor, refrigerators or Alexa and not violate copyright law.

  • But — Copyright Law cannot require OEMs sell parts, tools, etc. We still need State Right To Repair Laws.

• Magnuson Moss Warranty Act is ignored by 90% of Home Appliance OEMS.

  • US PIRG conducted a study on Warranty Law and documented the vast majority of Appliance Makers illegally void warranties, or threaten to void warranties if repairs are not made exclusively by them.

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

  • April 10, 2018. FTC issues warning letters to Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, ACER, HTM and Hyundai for violations of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

• US Copyright Office - June 22, 2017

  • Releases Study on Section 1201 (DRM) Recommending Congress act to remove all matters of repair and maintenance from control of the USCO, with the exception of computer gaming equipment.

• SCOTUS

  • May 30, 2017 Ruled against Lexmark in Impression Products v. Lexmark and affirmed that control of patented goods ends with the "First Sale". Used products can be refilled and resold without being a Patent infringement. Read more on our Blog.

• Federal Court, Texas

  • April 26, 2017 GE loses Anti-Trust case filed by RedLion Medical. Jury found GE guilty of a nationwide monopoly for the servicing of Anesthesia machines.

• US Copyright Office December 15, 2016

  • Report on Embedded Software and Repair released to Congress. Quick summary - repair is being prevented, but not by copyright law. Problems of repair and reuse are matters of contract law which fall under General Business Law in States.

  • Our own Cliff Notes available in PDF

• Electronic Frontier Foundataion

  • EFF files lawsuit against US Government for 1st Amendment violations

• Counterfeit

  • DOD releases new DFAR requiring maintenance companies to source parts exclusively from OEMs. Our colleagues at ASCDI and ORI are working on how to qualify parts sources from independents.

• Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 -- Still Applies.

  • A reminder to everyone that the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) of 1975 applies to all consumer purchases with warranties - not just cars. If you aren't familiar with this law -- read up. Many OEMs openly violate the statute -- we just confirmed with the FTC that it is illegal to place notices on products that opening the covers voids the warranty !