The Fight for the Right to Repair

• Published date: 01 December 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0003603X241255460
• Author: Jacob A. Kramer,Matthew Lechner
• Date: 01 December 2024

https://doi.org/10.1177/0003603X241255460

The Antitrust Bulletin

2024, Vol. 69(2-4) 126 –138

© The Author(s) 2024

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DOI: 10.1177/0003603X241255460

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Commentary

The Fight for the Right to Repair

Jacob A. Kramer* and Matthew Lechner**

Abstract

For more than two decades, a burgeoning “right-to-repair” movement has been underway in the United

States, evolving from a nascent effort to democratize automobile repair into a cultural and legal force with

ramifications in numerous industries. At the highest level, the right-to-repair movement aims to require

manufacturers to provide consumers and independent repair providers with replacement parts, repair

manuals, and other such materials used to fix products they own. Although activists have lobbied for the

right to repair automobiles since at least 2001, right-to-repair legislation began to gain momentum over

the past decade and has expanded from automobiles to other consumer goods, including cell phones,

appliances, and other electronic devices, as well as agricultural and medical equipment.

Keywords

right-to-repair, right to repair, repair rights, antitrust law, consumer protection legislation, manufacturers,

aftermarket

I. Introduction

For more than two decades, a burgeoning “right-to-repair” movement has been underway in the United

States, evolving from a nascent effort to democratize automobile repair into a cultural and legal force

with ramifications in numerous industries. At the highest level, the right-to-repair movement aims to

require manufacturers to provide consumers and independent repair providers with replacement parts,

repair manuals, and other such materials used to fix products they own. Although activists have lobbied

for the right to repair automobiles since at least 2001, right-to-repair legislation began to gain momen-

tum over the past decade and has expanded from automobiles to other consumer goods, including cell

phones, appliances, and other electronic devices, as well as agricultural and medical equipment.

In this article, we survey the current state of the right-to-repair movement, including voluntary

memoranda of understanding entered into between industry groups and manufacturers, federal and

state legislative activity, policy considerations, and the application of federal antitrust law in the

right-to-repair context. In the end, we conclude that the putative right to repair is better viewed as a

consumer protection initiative than an antitrust problem.

*Partner, Faegre Drinker, Washington, DC, USA

**Legal Clerk. Admitted only in Pennsylvania; supervision by principals of the firm admitted to the D.C. bar, Faegre Drinker,

Washington, DC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Jacob A. Kramer, Partner, Faegre Drinker, 1500 K. Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20004, USA.

Email: jake.kramer@faegredrinker.com

Correction (August 2024): Article updated to correct the affiliation of the author “Matthew Lechner” from “Associate,

Faegre Drinker, Washington, DC, USA” to “Legal Clerk. Admitted only in Pennsylvania; supervision by principals of the firm

admitted to the D.C. bar, Faegre Drinker, Washington, DC, USA.”

1255460ABXXXX10.1177/0003603X241255460The Antitrust Bulletin XX(X)Kramer and Lechner

article-commentary2024