This Section examines legislative approaches for expanding repair options. The state laws, model state legislation and European approaches described below show the variety of legislation that has been proposed to open repair markets. Section VIII of his Report identifies issues legislators should consider when drafting right to repair laws.
- 1.Existing State Right to Repair Laws and Model Legislation
A limited right to repair already exists in at least three states. Rhode Island has the most expansive such law, requiring manufacturers to “have adequate service information and replacement parts available to warranty stations and independent service facilities,[1] to effect repair and restore to operating condition.” Rhode Island requires that manufacturers make the service information and parts available for at least four years after the date of last sale of any given model or type.[2] This requirement applies to manufacturers of all new consumer products, regardless of the cost of the products and even when the manufacturer does not make any express warranties regarding the product.
Indiana has a similar law, but it applies only to manufacturers who make an express warranty in connection with the sale of an audio or visual entertainment product costing $50 or more. Manufacturers of such products must “make available to service representatives or independent service facilities adequate service information and replacement parts” for at least seven years after the date the product model or type was manufactured.[3]
Similar to Indiana’s law, California’s Song-Beverly Act requires manufacturers who make an express warranty when selling an electronic or appliance product to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and repair parts. For products with a wholesale price of between $50 and $99.99, this duty to provide service literature and repair parts lasts for three years from the date a product model or type was manufactured. For products with a wholesale price of $100 or more, the duty lasts for seven years.[4]
In addition to the laws in these three states, right to repair bills have been introduced in at least 20 state legislatures in the last few years. Although some of these bills differ in their coverage and exemptions, they generally track model legislation advanced by the Repair
- ↑ The law does not require manufacturers to make the information and parts available directly to consumers.
- ↑ R.I. Gen. Laws § 6A-2-329(5).
- ↑ Ind. Code Ann. § 26-2-6-2.
- ↑ Cal. Civ. Code § 1793.03. This particular provision of the Song-Beverly Act requires manufacturers to make service literature and parts available to “service and repair facilities,” while other provisions of the Song-Beverly Act apply to “authorized service and repair facilities.” See, e.g., Cal. Civ. Code § 1793.2(a)(3) (requiring manufacturers to “[m]ake available to authorized service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and replacement parts to effect repairs during the express warranty period”). In an unpublished opinion, however, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the duty imposed by 1793.03 only requires manufacturers to make service literature and replacement parts available to authorized service and repair facilities, despite the qualifier “authorized” not being included in that provision. Bahr v. Canon USA, Inc., 656 F. App’x. 276 (9th Cir. 2016).
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