Ever tried to get an ice cream at McDonald’s, only to hear, “Sorry, our machine’s broken?” You’re not the only one: almost 15% of ice cream

Victory Is Sweet: We Can Now Fix McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines

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2024-10-25 20:30:10

Ever tried to get an ice cream at McDonald’s, only to hear, “Sorry, our machine’s broken?” You’re not the only one: almost 15% of ice cream machines at McDonald’s are broken right now around the US—and in New York, it’s 32%. But today, we won more ice cream, and things should start to change.

The U.S. Copyright Office just handed down a ruling that marks an important victory for Right to Repair: we can now legally repair commercial food preparation equipment, including McDonald’s machines, without running afoul of copyright law.

We’ve been fighting for years to challenge the digital locks that manufacturers like Taylor (which makes McDonald’s ice cream machines) use to keep repair information out of reach, forcing expensive service calls for simple fixes. Digital locks blocking repair come from an archaic 1998 copyright law, and every three years, we get a chance to ask the Copyright Office to give us exemptions to that law. Last time, we won exemptions for basically all consumer equipment, vehicles, and medical devices. The time before that, we won smartphones and home appliances. This time, the FTC and DOJ even weighed in to support our petition.

But while this is a significant step forward, the battle is far from over. Any McDonald’s franchisee can hack your own machine, but if you want to share what you found with your friends or sell a tool to help diagnose and fix your machine, you’re out of luck. Plus, the ruling didn’t go nearly far enough in granting broader exemptions for repairing other commercial or industrial equipment.