As we patiently await a judge's ruling in the legal circus between RealNetworks and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), there have been a number of interesting tidbits from the case.
One such tidbit is when U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel asked Bart Williams, an MPAA attorney, if a DVD owner has the right to make a legal backup of a movie he or she purchased.
"Not for the purposes under the DMCA," was Williams' response. "One copy is a violation of the DMCA."
The CNET article follows:
Then Patel tried again. This time she asked about a hypothetical device that sounded very much like Facet, the DVD player that Real is planning to release that copies as well as plays DVDs. Real says that the copies of movies made by Facet are locked in the box and can not be distributed illegally.
"What if Real or someone made a device that allowed for making a copy only to the hard drive that is on that machine?" Patel asked Williams. "And you can't make another copy from that. Would that be circumvention of the DMCA? Would it in fact mean that it really was sufficient fair use under the DMCA?"
"Yes it would be circumvention," Williams replied, "and no it would not be fair use. The only backup copy Congress envisioned was archival, that you would never use until such time when your main computer wasn't working...Congress would not have gone through the process or have this process if you're going to say there is some fair use rights that allows you to circumvent."
In essence, fair use isn't related to DRM circumvention when it comes to making copies of legally purchased movies -- even when they'll be used for home use. But since Real said its software has only been designed to make legitimate copies of DVDs purchased legally, the matter fell became a fair use issue that saw Real get sued and later sue the MPAA.
All of this controversy is related to RealDVD, a DVD backup program initially released by RealNetworks last year -- MPAA action blocked Real from selling the product on store shelves. The legal outcome from this case could set a legal precedent among software makers that also specialize in DVD copying software, with many people anxiously looking forward to the judge's decision.
Judge Patel's ruling is expected in the immediate future, though it's unsure when a decision will be made. Regardless of this specific outcome, it's very possible these two sides will end up in court against one another later down the road.
