STUDIOS WINS 2ND BAN ON DVD COPYING PROGRAMS
For the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks, a federal court has barred the sale of DVD copying or “backup” software from developer 321 Studios.
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Ruling under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) provisions against circumventing copy protection devices, Judge Richard Owen, U.S. Dist. Court, N.Y., late Wed. granted plaintiffs Fox and Paramount preliminary injunctions against 321, ordering it to stop distributing products that violate the DMCA. Late last month, 7 MPAA studios won a similar injunction against 321 in U.S. Dist. Court, San Francisco (CED Feb 24 p1). Since then, 321 complied with the court’s order and has been selling only “ripper free” versions of its DVD X Copy family of software that don’t permit the copying of discs using DVD’s Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption.
MPAA praised the decision. “We are pleased that yet another court has seen through 321 Studios’ thinly veiled attempts to profit from others’ copyrighted works,” said MPAA Pres. Jack Valenti. “The law and this ruling are clear: It is illegal to create, sell or distribute programs that allow people to break copyright protections. After this ruling today and the ruling in California 2 weeks ago, how many more rulings are needed before it is understood that upholding the DMCA and protecting our Member Companies’ movies is critical to enabling the unlimited potential of digital technologies?” 321 comment wasn’t available at our deadline.
Although 321 now sells only “ripper-free” copying software, it still remains possible for consumers to download CSS rippers freely available on the Internet, which work with 321’s and other ripper-free programs to copy CSS encrypted DVDs (CED March 1 p3). MPAA attorney David Kendall said: “This ploy will be as transparent to the courts as it is to consumers. The law simply doesn’t allow one to do indirectly what can’t be done directly. We look forward to a permanent resolution to this case.”
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“We might see a complete reversal of position” on consolidating litigation pending in U.S. Dist. Court, N.Y., against 321 Studios’ DVD copying software, after last week’s federal court injunction in San Francisco against the technology, U.S. Copyright Office Gen. Counsel David Carson said at a Cal. Bar Assn. meeting in San Francisco. 321 had asked the N.Y. court for a change of venue to San Francisco but plaintiff Paramount had opposed it, he said. After Carson spoke, the N.Y. judge also issued an injunction against 321. Cases like these, alleging companies are violating the DMCA circumvention ban, probably will continue generating constitutional challenges, Carson said.