McDonald's infamous ice cream machines get a long-awaited fix
McDonalds McFlurry (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The days of broken ice cream machines at McDonald’s may soon be behind us thanks to a new exemption to an old law.
The U.S. Copyright Office has granted a partial exemption to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, allowing third-party technicians to repair McDonald’s infamous ice cream and McFlurry machines. Before the exemption was issued last week, it was technically a felony for anyone other than the machines’ manufacturer, the Taylor Company, to repair the copyrighted devices, leading to long wait times for what’s been described as "easy fixes."
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The ice cream machines are broken so often, one frustrated customer built a website around the phenomenon. Mcbroken.com has an interactive map showing locations in the U.S. where McDonald’s ice cream machines are broken or working. It also shows you where to find Wendy’s restaurants instead – Wendy’s regularly trolls McDonald’s ice cream machines on social media.
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According to USA Today, the Taylor Company has been the sole fixer of McDonald’s ice cream machines since 1956. Inc. Magazine says about 25% of the company’s revenue is from maintenance and repair services.
The nonprofit Public Knowledge and iFixit, a community for people who need to repair things, requested the exemption from the U.S. Copyright Office after an investigation showed the machines contain "lots of easily replaceable parts."
"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," Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, said in a prepared statement.