to protect against the potentially devastating consequences the subpoena could have on the role documentary filmmakers play in providing independent information on human rights and social issues through their use of the First Amendment right known as Reporters' Privilege. A number of industry organizations and individuals signed on to the brief, including Film Independent, IFP Inc., Alex Gibney, and Eddie Schmidt, who was president of the International Documentary Association. Actor, director, and environmental activist Robert Redford, has made his thoughts on the issue known in public media platforms. Digital Millennium Copyright Act On July 26, 2010, the United States Copyright Office ruled that documentary filmmakers would be exempt from the provisions of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998) that criminalize the act of circumventing electronic and digital copyright protection systems when ripping material from DVDs. The exemption was the result of an action spearheaded by Donaldson who assembled a coalition of award-winning documentarians and filmmaker organizations and provided pro bono legal council for the legal request. Prior to the ruling, documentary filmmakers were forced to use technically inferior methods to obtain copyrighted material permitted them by the fair use doctrine in United States copyright law. The exemption allows documentarians to legally obtain portions of encrypted or digitally locked material from DVDs for non-infringing use in their films. The exemption was in effect through October 28, 2012. On October 26, 2012, the Librarian of Congress published a new set of exemptions, effective October 28, 2001 through October 28, 2015, that provide substantially the same filmmaker rights. Net neutrality Donaldson assisted in the effort to ensure that documentary filmmakers have the same rights as major studios in terms of the speed at which their films will be able to travel the internet. He, along with Jack I. Lerner and the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, organized the efforts on a pro-bono bases in support of the principle termed Net Neutrality. The fight was led by the International Documentary Association and was supported by such additional organizations as Film Independent, University Film & Video Association, Independent Filmmaker Project, Independent Feature Project Chicago, IFP Minnesota and National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. On January 2, 2011, the FCC ruled in favor of net neutrality in a 3-to-2 vote. Lee & William Storey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue In support of the documentary film community's tax status, Donaldson, along with