Software developer 321 Studios will appeal another federal court’...
Software developer 321 Studios will appeal another federal court’s preliminary injunction against the sale of its DVD X Copy family of DVD backup software. In a suit vs. 321 by Macrovision, U.S. Dist. Judge Richard Owen, N.Y.C., granted the…
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plaintiff’s request for injunction May 11. Owen also denied the defendant’s motion to transfer the case to Cal., where another federal court had enjoined sales of 321’s products. Each court found the DVD X Copy line violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) provisions against circumvention of copy control technologies, in this case, DVD’s Content Scrambling System (CSS). Since the Feb. 20 Cal. ruling, 321 has been able to sell only copying software that lacks a “CSS ripper.” Macrovision sued 321 for copyright infringement on DMCA grounds, and for infringement of Macrovision’s copy protection patents. “We are disappointed that Judge Owen didn’t address any of our legal issues, and therefore the main issues in this case,” a 321 spokeswoman told us Tues.: “We plan to appeal.” In his order, the judge said he'd ruled March 3 in a similar case, Paramount Pictures v. 321 Studios, that 321’s software violated the DMCA, and therefore he “need not reach all the issues raised here.” Separately, 321’s DVD X Copy Platinum and DVD X Copy Xpress ranked 2nd and 5th respectively among top-selling PC software titles in March, according to research firm NPD. It’s not known if the titles sold were the new “ripper-free” versions or original ones still in the retail pipeline.