[free-sklyarov] Studios Sue Maker of DVD Copy Software

[Richard M. Smith]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=528&u=/ap/20021220/ap_o
n_hi_te/dvd_suit&printer=1
 
Studios Sue Maker of DVD Copy Software 
Fri Dec 20,12:01 AM ET  Add Technology - AP to My Yahoo! 

By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer 

SAN FRANCISCO - Hollywood fought back against a maker of DVD movie
copying software, countersuing the company for allegedly trafficking the
tools of digital theft. 

Seven major motion picture studios filed a counterclaim Thursday in U.S.
District Court, Northern District of California against 321 Studios,
makers of DVD Copy Plus and DVD X Copy. 

The software sold at stores nationwide allows the user to make a copy of
a DVD to a blank CD or DVD by defeating the copy protections encoded
onto the original movie disc. The studios contend that is an illegal
activity. 

The movie studios say the software contains the power of digital piracy,
and asked the court to enjoin 321 Studios from selling it or
distributing it. The studios also seek damages from any proceeds derived
from the company's software sales. 

"It's like somebody selling a digital crowbar. It's like breaking into
the castle if you will," said Patricia Benson, an attorney for the
studios. 

When 321 Studios' first product - DVD Copy Plus - came out and the
company sought a declaration that it did not violate federal law,
Hollywood shrugged and the studios simply sought to have the case
dismissed, stating there was no "case or controversy." 

DVD Copy Plus copies DVD movies to blank CDs, though in a compressed
video format. 

But with the advent of 321 Studios latest offering - DVD X Copy - the
stakes are a little higher. The software allows the user to burn an
exact copy of the original DVD to a blank DVD, without any diminished
quality or compression. 

"When the second product came out and 321 Studios started marketing it
very aggressively, the landscape kind of changed," Benson said. 

The studios still hold that both 321 Studios products violate the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (news - web sites), which makes illegal
the distribution of any technology or device that allows the user to
circumvent copy protections put in place by the content owner. 

Elizabeth Sedlock, a spokeswoman for 321 Studios, says the company has
sold about 150,000 copies of both software titles combined. The software
is not illegal, she said. 

321 Studios is based in Chesterfield, Mo. The studios that filed the
joint counterclaim are Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Disney
Enterprises, Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Tri-Star Pictures,
Inc., Time Warner Entertainment Company LP, Universal City Studios,
Inc., and The Saul Zaentz Company. 

http://www.mpaa.org 
htpp://www.321studios.com