UNITED STATES - John Deere is calling your tractor a license, not an ownership.
Recently I came across a fascinating article by Wired Magazine's Kyle Wiens, that calls into question the very nature of ownership. The company Wiens puts his focus on is agricultural tech giant, John Deere.
You can click here to read Wiens' entire article.
The company, one Wired Magazine calls the world’s largest agricultural machinery maker, recently informed the U.S. Copyright Office that the farmers who own the company’s tractors, don't REALLY own its tractors. John Deere is claiming ownership of the computer code used in modern tractors, and therefore farmers only receive “an implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”
“It’s John Deere’s tractor, folks. You’re just driving it,” writes Wired Magazine's Kyle Wiens.
Several other manufacturers recently submitted similar comments to the Copyright Office, inquiring about the “Digital Millennium Copyright Act”. The DMCA is a copyright law from 1998 that in part defines the line between what is software and what is hardware. The Copyright Office is set in July to decide which tech we can legally modify, hack, and repair, and which we are merely “loaning”.
Wired writes that manufacturers have been using the DMCA to argue that consumers do not own the software for the products they buy, whether that be computers, cars, or tractors.
This is an important issue for farmers. Wired Magazine cites farmer Kerry Adams, who hasn’t been able to fix an expensive transplanter because he doesn’t have access to the diagnostic software he needs. And because of this increasing trend, many farmers are opting for older, computer-free equipment.
"What does any of that have to do with copyright?" Wiens asks. Put simply, if you don’t own the copyright, you cannot legally modify it in any way. When manufacturers place these digital locks over software, breaking the lock, making the copy, and changing something could be construed as a violation of copyright law.
John Deere argues that allowing people to alter software would, “make it possible for pirates, third-party developers, and less innovative competitors to free-ride off the creativity, unique expression and ingenuity of vehicle software.” Other corporations, including trade groups representing nearly every major automaker, have made this same case to the Copyright Office multiple times over the years.
Wired Magazine spoke with Brian Talley, Former Chairman of LGMA and Owner of Talley Vineyards on California’s central coast about how the Copyright Office is hurting farmers.
“The bad part, my sense is, these companies are just locking up this technology, and increasing the sort of monopoly pricing structure that just doesn’t work for us,” said Talley. “We are used to operating independently, and that’s one of the great things about being a farmer. And in this particular space, they are really taking that away from us.”
There has been a trend towards fighting back against issues of copyright recently. Earlier this year, consumers sent 40,000 comments urging the Copyright Office to restore ownership rights, Wired reports, and you can too.
If you want to tell the U.S. Copyright Office how you feel about the current copyright laws you can do so: HERE.
So, if you bought it, should you own it? It may be up to you and fellow consumers to decide.
