Librarians are increasingly concerned about new restrictions being put into effect on use of copyrighted material, especially digital material. Of special interest for those who care about the ability of libraries and scholars to share copyrighted material in ways traditionally allowed (such as scholarly research, parody and political discussion) is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. When the U.S. Congress passed DMCA in 1998 it was argued that the act was necessary to prevent the illegal copying of music and video. Since its inception DMCA hasn't stopped illegal pirating of copyrighted material, but it has been used to discourage libraries from preserving digital materials, as preservation requires copying. Although libraries do have an exception allowing such copying for material when they own an item, they cannot preserve networked resources or web sites. Additionally, researchers have been challenged in presented findings that companies argued would hurt their technical ability to discourage illegal copying of digital material.

In a new twist, an original supporter of DMCA, Senator John McCain, has complained to Google's Youtube site that a video it had created was improperly removed from Youtube when copyright holders complained that a political video produced by the McCain campaign violated their rights under DMCA. Under provisions of the DMCA, copyright holders have the right to demand that content be removed (a DMCA take down notice) if it improperly contains their material. The person who posted the video must be notified, and if they think they were within their rights to use the material they then may ask a further investigation. Youtube has 10 to 14 days to respond to such counter claims. The McCain campaign argued that there should be a quicker determination when political comment is involved, an argument that Youtube rejected.

New York Times--McCain Fights for the Right to Remix on YouTube
Electronic Freedom Foundation