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Real Networks caved to the studios yesterday.
Instead of appealing a decision that deemed its $30 RealDVD ripping software illegal, the company is paying the studios $4.5 million as reimbursement for legal fees.
Under the auspices of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the studios sued Real in September 2008, claiming violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
An injunction was imposed – and never lifted—on sales of RealDVD.
In August 2009, the MPAA prevailed in its case against Real, which promised to appeal the decision.
Yesterday, Real gave up.
In addition to coughing up $4.5 million, Real agreed to abandon its claims against the studios and shut off metadata to the 2,700 users who managed to buy the software before the injunction was ordered.
After yesterday’s decision, MPAA general counsel Daniel Mandil said that the court’s “rulings and this settlement affirm what we have said from the very start of this litigation: It is illegal to bypass the copyright protections built into DVDs.”
He added, “We will continue to vigorously pursue companies that attempt to bring these illegal circumvention products and devices to market.”
Death Knell for DVD Copying?
Consumers who want distributed video servers and custom electronics pros that install such systems are probably asking: What does this mean for Kaleidescape?
Kaleidescape was sued in 2004, not for violations under the DMCA but for breach of contract with the DVD CCA (Copy Control Association), which licenses the Content Scramble System (CSS) decryption software.
The DVD CCA maintains that its licensing agreement prohibits the sale of products that enable users to copy DVDs – even if the copies are bit-for-bit, with CSS intact.
Kaleidescape servers –- with their five-digit price tags—perform such bit-for-bit copying, which is one reason the company has always maintained that it complies with the DVD CCA licensing agreement and the DMCA.
I concur- high profile (at least in electronics circles) cases like this take attention away from Torrent sites and other Peer-to-Peer platforms that blatantly promote illegal file sharing. Even when action is taken against them they stick around. Case in point: prison sentences and heavy fines were issued to founders of ThePirateBay and yet one of the biggest piracy sites remains active. This ruling was a huge disappointment.
They need to go after file sharing, instead of preventing users the freedom to view the movies they own on the device of their choice.
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I was an early adopter of DVDs back in the 90s, and have loved the format with one huge exception, damage to disks. I have an Escient media server linked to 3x400 disk Sony Changers and have about 1000 DVDs in my changers. I have DVD players around the house and in both cars. I also have 5 children. The lifespan of a DVD in a car with 5 kids is about 2-weeks.
If I’m paying for a “license” to use the movie the industry should be made to provide replacement copies at cost for damaged disks. Don’t I still own the license if my disk is scratched?
A few years back I tried out several commercial DVD / copy software packages. All worked well, but all were sued into backruptcy by the MPAA. I stopped buying commercial backup software because my money was going to the MPAA. For over 50 years, the music / movie industries have opposed “fair use”. Did you know that the 78rpm records were “licenced” so the manufacture could recall all copies of the recording if ticket sales to concerts dropped? That’s how far back the paranoia has roots. 8-Tracks, cassette tapes, vhs, dat, dvd, have all suffered similar fates. Blu-ray will supposedly begin letting you make 1 copy, but the software has not been released yet. I’ll believe it when I see it.
The legal answer is simple: stop buying DVDs. Go to the library, get Netflix, etc. Take money out of their pockets. I have not bought a kids DVD in over 3 years. I get them from the library, or make an analog recording (to DVD) from TV, Netflix, or On-demand.
The other answer: use illegal software. For a while I used a Linux-based bit copy program that was fantastic. I wanted to use legal software and make legal copies, but the MPAA did everything possible to make that impossible for me. It is perfectly legal for me to make a copy of my DVDs for my use!!!
The scales of justice are not supposed to hold piles of money.
Good luck Kaleidescape I hope you’ve gouged your users enough to pay for your litigation! You weren’t give any other option.