It might be curtains for RealNetworks' DVD-copying
software RealDVD, following a judge's ruling that RealNetworks's technology violates the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act.
The Motion Picture Association of America successfully argued that RealNetworks's technology is violating copyrights, and a judge granted a preliminary injunction against sales of RealDVD. Whether that sets the stage for a full trial was unclear, but it will keep RealDVD off the shelves for the foreseeable future.
A temporary injunction against RealNetworks and RealDVD has been in place since September, when a collection of big Hollywood studios -- including Paramount, Sony and Universal Studios -- filed suit against RealNetworks just a few days after the $29.99 product went on sale.
RealNetworks' defense was that it provided an easy, affordable way for consumers to make copies of DVDs they'd already bought. The movie companies didn't see it that way, and neither did Judge Marilyn Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Patel issued a 58-page ruling stating RealDVD is a violation of federal law and agreements RealNetworks signed with the DVD Copy Control Association.
"The court appreciates Real's argument that a consumer has a right to make a backup copy of a DVD for their own personal use," Patel wrote in her decision. However, she said, "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."
There was no immediate word on how RealNetworks planned to officially respond, though the company did express disappointment in Judge Patel's ruling.
"We are disappointed that a preliminary injunction has been placed on the sale of RealDVD," RealNetworks said in a statement Tuesday. "We have just received the judge's detailed ruling and are reviewing it. After we have done so fully, we'll determine our course of action and will have more to say at that time."
