A federal Judge has stung RealNetworks badly by issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the company from selling its RealDVD software, which costs $30 a pop. Additionally, the company’s prototype DVD player, Facet, will now also be blocked from sale. RealDVD allowed consumers to make copies of their DVDs onto their computers, while Facet is a HDD-equipped DVD player. The company has maintained that the software is entirely legal.
This case became important because it can answer the question of whether consumers in the U.S. are allowed to make copies of their DVD movies. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) regards Facet and RealDVD as tools of piracy that could cost the industry a lot of money, and claimed they were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Real argued that because it has licensed Content Scrambling System (CSS) from the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA), that its software and prototype DVD player do not break provisions surrounding the circumvention of copy protection, disregarding ARccOS and RipGuard.
“RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content,” U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel wrote in her decision, “and by doing so breaches its License Agreement with the DVD Copy Control Association … and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios’ copyrighted content on DVDs.” Real, of course, said it was very disappointed with the Judge’s decision. The MPAA on the other hand called it a victory for the creators and producers of movies and TV shows.
[More]>>
Result for: judge marilyn patel
Two days ago we reported that Real’s new legal DVD ripper, RealDVD, was temporarily not available, but it appears now that the restraining order on the software will not be lifted until the district judge that placed it “learns from experts, including the court’s, how the software functions.”
RealNetworks claims that the software “allows consumers to securely store, manage and play their DVDs on their computers” and “does not enable users to distribute copies of their DVDs.” It also mentions that RealDVD adds another layer of DRM to the ripped movies which makes it much harder to move to films off the computer that has the program installed.
The software will not reappear on Real’s site or in stores until at least late November, which is the next time U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel will have a hearing.
“I am extending the temporary restraining order because I’m not satisfied in the fact that this technology is not in violation,” Patel added. “There are serious questions about copyright violations. There are questions about violations of the (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), and violations of these companies’ agreement.”
Since the launch of RealDVD on September 30th, nothing has gone the way RealNetwork’s had hoped. First, the company preemptively sued the Hollywood studios to have a court rule that the software was completely legal.
Hours later, the MPAA countersued and obtained the restraining order on the software.
[More]>>
