In a move to halt RealNetworks from selling its RealDVD software the Motion Picture Association of America is suing the company asking a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order to stop RealDVD from being distributed. The MPAA is blasting Real for selling software it says should be called "StealDVD" - not RealDVD.
RealDVD is a program that allows you to store copies of a DVD in a copy-protected form for personal use on your PC (see review). It debuted today and is currently being sold for $30.
RealNetworks got a jump on court proceedings earlier today and sought a declaratory judgment in the Northern District of California that would shield it from a lawsuit by the MPAA. Real argues its DVD archiving product is legal and should be afforded the same legal status of a similar archiving product Kaleidescape, which allows you to create archive copies of DVDs on a $10,000 home media server.
Real executives say RealDVD breaks no copyright laws, arguing that, just as with a 2007 case involving the firm Kaleidescape, its software will copy a DVD to a PC retaining its Contents Scramble System (CSS) copy protection and layer even more copy protection on top of the DVD.
MPAA meanwhile asserts in a press release (PDF): "RealDVD software enables users to engage in an illegal practice known as 'rent, rip and return,' whereby a person rents a DVD from a legitimate business like Blockbuster or Netflix, uses the RealDVD software to make multiple permanent illegal copies."
In study conducted this year called the Consumer Home Piracy Research Findings July 2008 reportedly one third of people copy DVDs. Of those that copy DVDs in the U.S. over half are copying DVDs rented from sources like Blockbuster and Netflix.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act circumventing a DVD's CSS protection is illegal. That's why Kaleidescape and (now RealDVD) both steer clear of decrypting a DVD's CSS protection and copied a DVD bit-for-bit to a hard drive - CSS protection and all. The DVD movies are then played back through a proprietary player.
Since the 2007 Kaleidescape ruling the industry group DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA), which owns the DVD encryption technology CSS, has fought to overturn a DVD licensing loophole that allows Kaleidescape to legally archive DVDs on a server.
The MPAA has a long history of chasing after companies that overtly allow you to either rip or make copies of DVDs.
In 2002 the MPAA sued Missouri software firm 321 Studios it alleged sold DVD-copying software, DVD X Copy, it proved violated anti-copying laws. The company had argued its DVD copying software was legal stating consumers had a fair-use right to make a backup copy of a DVD that is legally owned. In 2004 a U.S. federal judge has barred 321 Studios from manufacturing, distributing, or otherwise trafficking in software that allows users to copy DVDs.
Meanwhile, much to the dismay of MPAA, tools, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions on how to rip a DVD are flourishing online. Some major U.S. retail electronics stores continue to sell DVD copying programs that, with slight modification, can be used to copy commercial DVDs.
The MPAA's lawsuit was filed today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. It seeks damages and injunctive relief against RealNetworks for violations of the DMCA's circumvention provisions.
