Medical Device Groups’ Challenge to Copyright Repair Rule Fails

Two medical device trade groups failed to block a federal anti-hacking exemption that allows consumers to bypass encryption on medical devices for the purposes of repair, with a Washington, D.C., federal judge dismissing their legal challenge.

The Library of Congress, who adopted the repair rule in 2021 after a 16-month rulemaking process designated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, didn’t commit “extreme statutory error” and the trade groups’ claims are barred by sovereign immunity, US District Judge Beryl A. Howell said in her Tuesday opinion.

The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance and the Advanced Medical Technology Association’s constitutional challenge to ...