RealNetworks, movie studios square off in court

Jake Widman
Saturday, 25 April 2009 01:56

Business IT - Technology

In the latest case touching on consumer rights vis a vis digital content, RealNetworks and the MPAA are set to argue over the legality of Real's RealDVD copying software.

Last fall, RealNetworks launched RealDVD, software for copying DVDs to a PC.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), representing the largest Hollywood studios, promptly filed suit, alleging that RealDVD violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

RealNetworks countersued, asking for a declaratory judgment in its favor.

In October 2008, the judge ordered Real to stop selling the software pending the outcome of the suits.

The case is finally underway, with testimony beginning today in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The MPAA argues that the DMCA flatly prohibits anyone from making copies of a movie without the copyright owner's okay.

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