A federal copyright rule adopted in October 2024 may make it easier for McDonald’s restaurants and repairers to diagnose or fix some soft-serve machine problems by allowing limited circumvention of digital locks. It does not require manufacturers to provide parts, passwords, tools, or service—and there is no evidence here that repairs have become faster or machines more available since the change.
What the federal rule allows
The exemption is part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s Section 1201 rulemaking. The current regulation, 37 CFR 201.40(b)(16), permits certain circumvention of technological protections on lawfully acquired equipment primarily designed for retail-level commercial food preparation. The Librarian of Congress adopted the Copyright Office’s recommendation in October 2024. The Register’s recommendation discusses soft-serve machines and other software-enabled food-preparation equipment whose diagnostic access can be restricted by passcodes or proprietary tools.
The permission is limited to circumvention necessary for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair. In the regulation, maintenance means servicing equipment so it works according to its original specifications and authorized changes; repair means restoring it to that condition. The exemption does not authorize access to other copyrighted works.
Who may repair a covered machine?
The exemption can apply to users or repairers who meet its conditions. In practical terms, it removes a copyright-law obstacle to certain repair-related access to machine software. It does not certify a technician, guarantee that a restaurant can use any particular repairer, or resolve every issue that might arise under other applicable law or contract.
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Nor does the exemption create a general right to obtain or distribute circumvention tools. The Copyright Office’s recommendation distinguishes qualifying repair circumvention from trafficking in tools, and notes the limits of the Office’s authority. A technician may still lack the needed parts, diagnostic knowledge, equipment, passwords, or other access.
Why this matters for McDonald’s soft-serve machines
The Copyright Office described soft-serve machines whose error codes can require access to software protected by passcodes or proprietary diagnostic tools. It found that access restrictions and the perceived risk of litigation had inhibited repair-related activity. The exemption also covers a defined class of retail-level commercial food-preparation equipment, not all commercial or industrial machinery; the recommendation expressly excluded industrial-scale food-preparation equipment.
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The FTC and Department of Justice supported repair-related exemptions in a March 2024 joint comment. The agencies argued that repair exemptions could encourage competition in parts, repair, and maintenance markets and potentially make repairs easier or less costly for consumers and businesses. Those were policy arguments, not findings that this particular rule has reduced repair costs or downtime.
Will McDonald’s machines be fixed faster now?
Possibly, if the exemption lets a restaurant or repairer diagnose or address a problem that was previously blocked by a digital lock. But the legal change alone does not establish faster turnaround, fewer outages, or more McFlurries available at a given restaurant. No post-rule repair-speed or uptime statistic is established in the sources cited here.
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Before the exemption, a McDonald’s spokesperson told Axios that company sales data showed its shake machines were running “around 95% of the time across the country, depending on the local restaurant.” The figure described the preceding couple of years and was company-reported, not an independent measurement or a post-rule result. The spokesperson also said McDonald’s was working toward higher availability through crew training and regular maintenance check-ups. Axios reported those comments on February 9, 2024, months before the exemption was adopted.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the rule does—and does not—change
| Question | What the rule establishes |
|---|---|
| Can qualifying repairers bypass certain software protections? | Yes, when circumvention is necessary for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of lawfully acquired equipment in the covered class, and the other conditions apply. |
| Must manufacturers provide parts, passwords, tools, or service? | No. The exemption does not impose those requirements. |
| Does it cover every commercial machine? | No. It applies to the specified retail-level commercial food-preparation equipment, not all commercial or industrial machinery. |
| Has it been shown to improve McDonald’s machine uptime? | No post-rule uptime or repair-turnaround result is established by the sources cited here. |
The U.S. Copyright Office’s October 25, 2024 notice says the Librarian adopted the Register’s recommendation in full. The practical effect is narrower than a promise that broken machines will disappear: qualifying repair activity faces fewer copyright anti-circumvention barriers, while access to parts, tools, and service—and any improvement in restaurant availability—remains a separate question.
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