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RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., 641 F. Supp. 2d 913, is a United States District Court case involving RealNetworks, the movie studios and DVD Copy Control Association regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims on the manufacturing and distribution of RealDVD, and a breach of license agreement.
Background[edit]
This case involves the digital media company RealNetworks, DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) and the major motion picture studios. RealNetworks licensed the Content Scramble System (CSS), a technology commonly used on copyrighted DVDs to prevent unauthorized copying, from DVD CCA and released the product RealDVD that allows users to make hard drive copies of copyrighted DVDs [1][2]. However, some major movie studios feel that RealDVD can threaten the emerging market in digital downloads and encourage people to make copies of rental DVDs instead of buying [2]. RealNetworks, on the other hand, believes that copying of DVD is now legal after the favorable ruling of a 2007 California Superior Court case against Kaleidescape, a manufacturer of high-end media servers capable of copying copyrighted DVD content to the servers[1][2][3]. Therefore, RealNetworks sued the DVD CCA and several major movie studios on September 30, 2008 seeking for a declaratory judgement that RealDVD neither violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) 17 U.S.C. § 1201 et seq. nor breached the licensing contract with DVD CCA. On the same day, the studios sued RealNetworks by alleging that RealNetworks violated the DMCA and breached of contract[1][2].
District Court Ruling[edit]
The district court issued a temporary restraining order on October 3, 2008 after the initial hearing of the case to prevent the sale and distribution of RealDVD. The temporary restraining order was turned into a preliminary injunction against RealNetworks on August 11, 2009 by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, barring the manufacturing and distribution of RealDVD or any other similar software product after the court found that RealNetworks violated the DMCA and breached the CSS licensing agreement with DVD CCA [1].
DMCA Claims on Content Scramble System[edit]
The DMCA prohibits circumvention of "effective" access control of copyrighted works and the trafficking of tools that are designed primarily to circumvent "effective" access control or copy control of copyrighted works [4]. RealNetworks alleged that that CSS is not effective anymore because it has been cracked or hacked. However, the court ruled that the DMCA statute does not require the access control or copy control technology to be strong as long as it prevents unauthorized access and/or copying under ordinary course of operation and with the authority of the copyright owner. Since the court concluded that CSS is still effective for ordinary uses, the DMCA claim against RealNetworks is valid [1].
The court decided that RealDVD is primarily designed or produced to circumvent CSS technology. In particular, the court found that the removal of crucial CSS technology in DVD drive-locking, secure storage of content keys on DVD, CSS authentication and CSS bus encryption during the playback of copied DVD content from the hard dive is a circumvention of CSS, even though they are not needed when playback from the hard drive. The court further explained that even though RealNetworks is a licensee of CSS technology, it does not shield RealNetworks from DMCA claim because the removal of CSS technology is a violation of DMCA [1].
DMCA Claims on Sony ARccOS and Macrovision RipGuard[edit]
RealDVD also circumvented copy control measure in Sony ARccOS and Macrovision RipGuard, which are designed not to impair normal playback but to prevent copying by inserting intentional bad sectors and fake menu structures to the DVDs, by mimicking the way human watching a DVD or by skipping the unreadable data. RealNetworks contended that Sony ARccOS and Macrovision RipGuard are not effective copy control measure because they only prolong the copying process. The district court rejected this argument because ARccOS and RipGuard may make copying take so long that is essentially not viable. RealNetworks then argued that ARccOS and RipGuard are never encountered during normal playback, leaving a back door to copying wide open, thus, not an effective copy control measure. But the court disagreed with this argument because if this is the law, then "effective" copy protection measure will have to prevent against every possible current and future means of copying. Finally, RealNetworks asserted that regular DVD players can make temporary copies as cache, so the copy control measure is not effective. However, the court deemed this argument flawed because cache copies are byproduct of playback, but copies made by RealDVD are permanent [1].
Fair Use Argument[edit]
The district court determined that DMCA provides limited fair use defense to owners of copyrighted works but not to the manufacturer or traffickers of the circumvention tool. Therefore, the district court did not apply the fair use analysis to the case [1].
Breach of License Aggreement[edit]
RealNetworks argued that it fully complied with the CSS license agreement not only by preserving all of the associated protection but also by adding Advanced Encryption System (AES) encryption to the copied content so that only the person who made the copy can playback the copied content with RealNetworks' player. However, the court decided that preserving the CSS protection only once during the initial playback of the DVD is not enough and any subsequent absence of CSS technology during the playback of copied DVD content from the hard drive is a contract violation [1].
Antitrust Claims[edit]
On May 14, 2009, RealNetworks amended the lawsuit to include antitrust claims against DVD CCA and the major studios, alleging that the delayed product launch of RealDVD, temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction are the results of DVD CCA and the movie studios conspiring to deny the licensing of CSS to make hard drive copies of DVD content. However, the court dismissed the claim because consumer can get the same hard drive copies through digital downloads, and some DVDs even come with an additional, non-CSS encrypted DVD that allows the users to copy the content onto the hard drive. Also, even if RealNetworks is able to obtain a license to circumvent CSS, RealNetworks still violated the DMCA for circumventing ARccOS and RipGuard [5]
Sources[edit]
RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. Preliminary Injunction Ruling[1]
RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. Motions to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Counter-Defendants' Antitrust Claims[5]
New York Times Article on Lawsuit[2]
New York Times Article on Ruling[6]
Why MPAA Should Lose Against RealDVD from EFF [7]
MPAA vs. RealNetworks from LA Times [8]
RealNetworks Loses DVD Copying Decision from PC Magazine[9]
DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc.[3]
DVD-Copying Tools Lose in Court, Flourish in Real Life [10]
Why Hollywood Hates RealDVD [11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc.,641 F. Supp. 2d 913, 2009 U.S. Dist. (N.D. Cal. August 11, 2009).
- ^ a b c d e Stone, Brad. Studios sue to bar a DVD copying program, The New York Times, October 1, 2008.
- ^ a b DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc.,176 Cal. App. 4th 697, 2009 Cal. App. (Cal. App. 4th Aug 12, 2009).
- ^ 17 U.S.C. § 1201
- ^ a b RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Copy Control Association, Inc,No. 3:2008cv04548(MHP), 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1433 (N.D. Cal. January 8, 2010).
- ^ Stone, Brad. RealNetworks Barred From Selling DVD Copy Maker, The New York Times, August 11, 2009.
- ^ Von Lohmann, Fred.Why MPAA Should Lose Against RealDVD, Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 2, 2008.
- ^ Healey, Jon. MPAA vs. RealNetworks, The Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2008.
- ^ Hachman, Mark. RealNetworks Loses DVD Copying Decision, PC Magazine, August 11, 2009.
- ^ Pegoraro, Rob.DVD-Copying Tools Lose in Court, Flourish in Real Life, The Washington Post, August 13, 2009.
- ^ Von Lohmann, Fred.Why Hollywood Hates ReadDVD,Electronic Frontier Foundation, October 10, 2008.