The US Copyright Office Granted McDonald’s Franchisees the ‘Right to Repair’ Broken McFlurry Machines

It’s not every day that we get to share excellent news. But today happens to be one of those days — at least if you’re a McFlurry fan. 

The McDonald’s dessert has long been both a blessing and curse for franchise owners. A blessing as people love it and a curse as the machines are constantly on the fritz, so much so that there’s an entire website dedicated to tracking which machines are down and which machines are actually operational so people can get their McFlurry fix. The reason they are so often offline is because franchise owners were not allowed to fix them on their own due to the fact that the company that makes them, Taylor Commercial Foodservice, owns the copyright and exclusive rights to fix each machine — and it’s not inexpensive, either. But all that is changing. 

As CNN reported, in late October, the United States Copyright Office granted a copyright exemption, giving each individual shop the “right to repair,” allowing them to bypass the digital locks that prevented them from fixing the machines before.

The request for the right to repair was put in by Public Knowledge, an advocacy group, and the repairs website, iFixit, asking for third-party rights to fix the product. CNN reported that the full request wasn’t approved. However, commercial restaurant equipment, including the McFlurry machines, received an exemption. In a press release, Meredith Rose, a senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, shared that this decision “will lead to an overdue shake-up of the commercial food prep industry.” 

“There’s nothing vanilla about this victory; an exemption for retail-level commercial food preparation equipment will spark a flurry of third-party repair activity and enable businesses to better serve their customers,” Rose said. 

And while now anyone can fix their own McFlurry, a spokesperson from Taylor told the Wall Street Journal that owners should still use a company-certified technician while the machine is under warranty. 

Rose added that her office isn’t done fighting the good fight for your right to repair just yet. As Rose added, “While we are disappointed that the Register recommended a narrower exemption than we had proposed, this does not soften our enthusiasm. We will continue to chip away at half-baked laws blocking the right to repair, sprinkling consumer victories as we go. Today’s win may not be parfait, but it’s still pretty sweet.”