Exploring Copyright Law Risks at a Major Hacker Conference Event

Adam Bresson Discusses Fair Use Rights At DefCon Conference

Aug 06, 2002 •

1 min read

When Adam Bresson showed how to make copies of copyright-protected videos in a speech at a hacker conference this weekend he realized he was risking arrest for violating U.S. copyright law that landed a Russian man behind bars after the same event last year.. . . When Adam Bresson showed how to make copies of copyright-protected videos in a speech at a hacker conference this weekend he realized he was risking arrest for violating U.S. copyright law that landed a Russian man behind bars after the same event last year.

But 28-year-old Bresson had his mother, brother and grandparents in the audience and his girlfriend videotaping his talk at the three-day DefCon conference, just in case he was accused of treading too close to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA).

"There's a fine line between creating technologies that bypass copyright protections and demonstrating them," he said Monday. "I decided to do it because I think the message is important."

His message: people's rights to make "fair use" copies of copyrighted material for personal use are being eroded by copyright holders.

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