The federal courts in California will have their hands full with the brewing battle over RealNetworks’ newly released software, RealDVD — a program the company says is designed to enable “consumers to securely store, manage and play their DVDs on their computers.”
As the program was hitting store shelves, RealNetworks filed a declaratory action in Northern California, asking for a ruling that RealDVD is not a violation of the anti-copying provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. At virtually the same time, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles, seeking among other things an injunction barring the sale of RealDVD.
StealDVD, or Fair Use?
In a widely quoted statement, Greg Goeckner, general counsel for the MPAA, said that “RealNetworks’ RealDVD should be called StealDVD.”
“RealNetworks knows its product violates the law,” Goeckner said, “and undermines the hard-won trust that has been growing between America’s moviemakers and the technology community. We will vigorously defend our right to stop companies from bringing products to market that mislead consumers and clearly violate the law.”
The MPAA argues that RealDVD violates the law in two respects: It illegally circumvents the “Content Scramble System” used by the film studios to prevent DVD copying, and it makes it possible for RealDVD users to engage in a practice known as “rent, rip, and return.” That refers to the practice of renting a film from a DVD rental outfit like Blockbuster or Netflix, making a copy, and then returning the DVD.
RealNetworks admits that its software cannot prevent the “rent, rip, and return” scenario, although it makes it clear to purchasers that no such use is permitted under the software’s license. Of course, there are numerous other software programs available that allow consumers to do the same thing.
RealNetworks also argues that it does not interfere with…