In many cases, the answer is yes, but following a recently-adopted exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), owners of certain retail-level machines are no longer forced to hire OEM-certified technicians to repair the machines they own.
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) would prefer you to use their certified technicians to repair the machines they manufactured. Indeed, they often install technological safeguards to prevent those without authorization from repairing or modifying their machines. But if you or your non-certified technician bypass those safeguards, can the OEM sue you for “illegally” repairing the machine it manufactured?In many cases, the answer is yes, but following a recently-adopted exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), owners of certain retail-level machines are no longer forced to hire OEM-certified technicians to repair the machines they own.
What is the DMCA?
The DMCA was introduced in 1998 to protect copyright holders in our rapidly-evolving digital world. Under section 1201, bypassing technological measures that safeguard copyrighted materials is illegal. Thus, under the DMCA, it has been illegal to bypass digital locks embedded in the software commonly found in commercial devices. In enacting the DMCA, Congress recognized that its blanket prohibitions could strike an improper balance of rights, and thus, the DMCA contains a mechanism for permitting exemptions to certain DMCA provisions.
The Limited Exemption for Repair of Retail-Level Food Preparation Machines.
In recent years, advocacy groups have championed the cause of independent repair and have lobbied for an exemption to the DMCA. While they sought a broad exemption allowing owners of industrial equipment to bypass digital locks to repair their own machines, a more narrow exemption was recently adopted for owners of retail-level food preparation machines.
In 2024, the Library of Congress adopted the “Computer Programs–Repair of Commercial Industrial Equipment” exemption, which applies to certain software-enabled retail-level food preparation equipment. Now, for the first time since the DMCA was enacted, a restaurant owner or other third-party technician can legally bypass technological restrictions to repair soft-serve ice cream machines, commercial espresso machines, refrigerators and ovens. Notably, McDonald’s franchise owners will no longer have to rely on technicians authorized by McDonalds Corporation to repair the store’s soft-serve ice cream machines, which are known to need frequent service.
What the Exemption Does Not Cover.
While this new exemption makes a minor modification to the balance of rights between OEMs and equipment purchasers, it is essential to understand the exemption’s limitations. This exemption explicitly applies solely to retail-level commercial food preparation equipment. Broader categories like industrial-scale equipment, construction machinery, medical devices, and programmable logic controllers remain outside its scope. This means that retailers and business owners with these machines remain restricted from bypassing the OEMs’ digital locks and technological safeguards, and must engage authorized repair technicians to service their equipment.
What the Future Holds.
Certainly, advocates for equipment purchasers will continue to seek a broader exemption to the DMCA’s restrictions on bypassing digital protections embedded in industrial and commercial machines. The Library of Congress will monitor the changed balance of rights effectuated by the new “Computer Programs–Repair of Commercial Industrial Equipment” exemption, and if it likes the results, it will certainly consider broadening the exemption.