DVD-copying software sparks legal battle with movie studios
Technology ( 6 )
SAN FRANCISCO —
RealNetworks on Tuesday released software that lets people copy films on DVDs, sparking a heated legal battle with Hollywood film studios fearful of rampant piracy.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rushed to federal court in Los Angeles and filed a lawsuit demanding that RealNetworks be stopped from distributing its RealDVD software and be made to pay cash damages.
“RealNetworks’ RealDVD should be called StealDVD,” MPAA general counsel Greg Goeckner said in a release.
“RealNetworks knows its product violates the law and undermines the hard-won trust that has been growing between America’s movie makers and the technology community.”
RealNetworks countered by saying it will file legal paperwork asking the court to rule that the software enabling people to copy movie DVDs is legal because it complies with a DVD Copy Control Association license agreement.
“RealNetworks took this legal action to protect consumers’ ability to exercise their fair-use rights for their purchased DVDs,” the company said in a release.
“We are disappointed that the movie industry is following in the footsteps of the music industry and trying to shut down advances in technology rather than embracing changes that provide consumers with more value and flexibility for their purchases.”
The software at issue was made available Tuesday online at www.realdvd.com for a price of $29.99.
Wire reports
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6 Comments
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Osakadaz
DVD Decryptor and DVD Shrink have been out for ages and ages and are still my faves.
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SuperLib
I used AnyDVD and CloneDVD....well worth the price and much more convenient than Decryptor/Shrink.
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soldave
Am a big fan of DVD Shrink too, along with DVD Decryptor. Nice pieces of software.
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ninjitsu182
Magic DVD copier works just as well.
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OssanULTRA
This is so stupid. As everyone points out so many other DVD copying programs have been out for ages and the Hollywood movie industry certainly hasn't been destroyed by people copying and burning DVDs. It's only a real issue when mass copying is done for commercial purposes, but the crowd of lawyers are feasting off the letter of the law. Not just movies bnut music as well, multimillion dollar law firms bringing actions against teenagers. Disgusting.
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Azrael
Indeed! Betamax and VHS didn't bring down TV and movie industries, did they? This is a frivolous lawsuit.
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