Getting Ice Cream At McDonald's Is Finally Going To Be Easier

It's become somewhat of a running joke that McDonalds' ice cream machines seem to be broken more often than not these days. The out of order soft-serve machines at the Golden Arches have been the inspiration behind an array of internet memes, and a website called McBroken.com that sprang up to track the U.S. McDonald's locations that have working ice cream machines and the ones that don't. 

But that's all about to change amid a new development that will likely make it much easier to once again satisfy your McFrosty cravings at a McDonald's location near you. It all has to do with a copyright exemption granted by the United States Copyright Office, effective October 28, 2024.

The issue was that, up until now, an individual Mickey D's location had been prevented from fixing its own soft-serve ice cream machines due to restrictions imposed in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA constraints barred the overriding of digital locks that must be bypassed in order to repair appliances like McDonalds' ice cream machines, since the machines are considered copyrighted works. The manufacturers maintained that IP rights are infringed if an unauthorized repair person works on one of the devices. And that led to a potentially months-long wait if a soft-serve machine malfunctioned.

The manufacturer, Taylor, owns the copyright and, subsequently, the exclusive repair rights for the ice cream dispensers at McDonald's. Up until now, that has meant that, if the soft-serve equipment breaks down in a Mickey D's, it would be illegal for anyone but a Taylor-authorized repair person to fix the problem. It not only resulted in unhappy customers that want McFlurries, but also a hefty bill when a repair person does finally show up (Taylor's repairers can reportedly charge up to $300 per 15 minutes of service).

Thanks to an advocacy group called Public Knowledge, along with the iFixIt repair website, who made the request for the copyright exemption, there's new hope for less issues at McD's since it can now take repair matters into its own hands. The request wasn't granted in totality, but it did result in a win for restaurants like McDonald's when it comes to repairing commercial equipment.

This will hopefully mean that one of the big changes you'll see at McDonald's in 2024 is a permanent end to the chronic inability to get a cone or sundae. The next time a new, limited time McFlurry flavor like KitKat Banana Split is unveiled, for instance, you won't have to worry about the treat coming and going before your local Golden Arches has an operating soft-serve dispenser to make it.