Judge Declares RealNetworks' DVD-Copying Software Illegal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 12, 2009 - 11:48am.

San Francisco - A federal judge has ruled that RealNetworks' (NASD: RNWK) DVD-copying RealDVD software product violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and has banned its distribution. "This is a victory for the creators and producers of motion pictures and television shows and for the rule of law in our digital economy," said Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) CEO Dan Glickman.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel -- who also presided over the record labels' suit against Napster -- found that, even though RealNetworks obtained a license for the encryption technology used on DVDs, it was in violation of the DMCA when it engineered software that would defeat the encryption to allow users to make back-up copies of DVDs they own.

However, Judge Patel did allow that it could be considered "fair use" of a copyrighted DVD for a consumer to make a personal back-up copy.

"While it may well be fair use for an individual consumer to store a backup copy of a personally owned DVD on that individual's computer, a federal law has nonetheless made it illegal to manufacture or traffic in a device or tool that permits a consumer to make such copies," Patel wrote in her ruling.

"Fair use can never be an affirmative defense to the act of gaining unauthorized access."

"This case has nothing to do with 'piracy,' and everything to do with Hollywood using the DMCA to control the pace and nature of innovation for DVDs, to the detriment of those who legitimately buy their DVDs," said Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

RealNetworks is expected to appeal the decision.

http://snipurl.com/prf8i (Wired.com)

http://snipurl.com/prg82 (DMW previous coverage)

http://www.realdvd.com