Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hollywood Gets Sued By RealNetworks

A group of movie studios is being sued by RealNetworks, in a pre-emptive strike to protect RealNetworks new DVD copying service. RealNetworks, which recently launched a new service called RealDVD, which allows owners of DVDs to copy their DVDs to a hard drive for later viewing, said that it is filing suit against the DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney Enterprises, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., NBC Universal, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., and Viacom, Inc. RealNetworks is seeking to rule that its RealDVD software fully complies with a license agreement from the DVD Copy Control Association, which governs encryption software for DVDs. RealNetworks said the lawsuit, which will be filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, is a response to threats made by the major movie studios over its service.