Preliminary injunction against 321 Studios' DVD X Copy

Lasse Penttinen
20 May 2004 8:05

Macrovision has won an injunction against the sale of 321 Studio's very popular DVD X Copy software. Macrovision, the industry leader in content protection, is not however suing 321 for circumventing their protection schemes -- their interests are in the duplication of their patented copy protection methods.

Macrovision Corporation (Nasdaq: MVSN), the world leader in content protection technologies, announced that it has won a preliminary injunction against the sale of widely-distributed DVD cloning products sold by 321 Studios (321) under the name "DVD X Copy". Judge Richard Owen of the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York issued the injunction on May 11, 2004 prohibiting 321 from selling various versions of its DVD copying software and their functional equivalents.
Unlike other lawsuits that have been brought against 321 Studios by content providers, whose primary weapon in the fight against piracy has been the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”), Macrovision's suit used two complementary approaches of attack by asserting both the DMCA and claims for patent infringement, which cover content protection technologies that are found on most of DVD players sold worldwide. "The vast majority of Hollywood DVDs are protected by software flags that trigger the patented anti-copy methods within DVD players," explained Macrovision’s attorney Robert Becker of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. "When those flags are copied by DVD X Copy, the patented methods are triggered and performed without license from Macrovision. A patent infringement results. When the software flags are removed, the anti-copy mechanism is circumvented, resulting in a violation of the DMCA." Macrovision was granted a preliminary injunction barring 321 Studios from selling the various versions of its DVD copying software, including DVD X Copy Platinum, DVD X Copy Gold, DVD X Copy Xpress, and their functional equivalents. The Court issued the preliminary injunction after determining the software had violated federal law.
"Macrovision is committed to protecting copyrighted content from illegal piracy," said Macrovision’s CEO Bill Krepick. "Macrovision is uniquely situated by virtue of its patent position and worldwide copy protection ecosystem. Because copy protection is our core business, the conduct of those like 321 Studios that facilitate widespread copying is unacceptable."