By David LaGesse

Recent court rulings have tightened studio controls over the movies they sell on disks.

Consumers are accustomed to copying music disks to their computers, making it easy to transfer them to portable MP3 players like the iPod. Many wonder why they can't do the same with movies on DVD. Two recent court rulings nixed novel approaches that sought to make it easy and legal for consumers to copy DVDs to computers and elsewhere. Here's a quick guide to what the courts have said, what it means to consumers, and if and when we can hope to legally copy a DVD.

What stops a DVD from being copied?

When movie studios were preparing to release movies in a digital format for distribution on disks, they learned from the mistakes of the music industry. Hollywood insisted the disks include a layer of copy protection that music CDs don't contain. But the technology that protects DVDs was cracked within a few years of the disks going on sale. (Actually copying a DVD would require extensive technical know-how that's well beyond most consumers.) Congress, meanwhile, passed a law that made it illegal to produce or distribute tools that enable consumers to circumvent copy protection.

So it's illegal to copy a DVD? Interestingly, no.

Judges have said that consumers have a right to copy a DVD for their own use--say, for backing it up to another disk or perhaps watching it on another device, such as an iPod. That's the same "fair use" rule that made it legal to tape television shows for watching later, perhaps on a different TV. The problem is that consumers can't duplicate DVDs without software tools that get around the copy protection on those disks. It is those tools that Congress outlawed.

Is it still legal to copy a CD?

The same fair use doctrine allows consumers to copy their music disks to computers and other devices. Because CDs don't have anything to protect them from being copied, it's also legal to distribute software for "ripping" them to a PC's hard drive. The ripping software doesn't have to circumvent any anticopy protections.

Who tried to loosen Hollywood's grip?

Kaleidescape is a product that copies and stores DVDs on a hard drive in a proprietary and expensive home system. RealDVD did essentially the same thing, only it used the PCs that consumers already own, and it cost just $30 to buy. Both include software that prevents distribution of the stored copy, protection that is more robust even than what's on the DVD itself. Kaleidescape initially won a court case saying its system was legal. That emboldened RealNetworks to try the same thing with its RealDVD.

Why did the studios sue?

Even if such a system prevented a copy from being distributed, movie executives argued that it hurt sales. Consumers could "rent, rip, and return." Nothing stopped rented DVDs from being copied to the Kaleidescape and RealDVD systems. The studios argued that Kaleidescape and RealDVD broke a DVD licensing agreement, and that RealDVD circumvented copy protections and thus violated federal law. Hollywood won. In decisions that came within days of each other, a judge ruled against RealDVD and an appeals court overturned Kaleidescape's initial court victory.

What's the fallout? The court said RealDVD can't be sold.

RealNetworks, which analysts estimate spent more than $10 million defending RealDVD, has not said whether it will continue the legal fight. A company called Telesteam that sold RealDVD-like software for Apple Macs has also pulled its product off the market. For now, Kaleidescape continues to be sold, and the company promises to continue the legal fight. But it appears a long shot to win, and few consumers can afford the $8,000 a Kaleidescape system costs.

Isn't there still software for ripping DVDs?

Plenty of tools can be found on the Internet for sale, or even free downloading, that make it reasonably easy to copy DVDs. Some even work on the stronger software that protects high-definition, Blu-ray disks. But you won't find them in stores. Producing or distributing such software would appear to be illegal in the United States. Still, many people will and already do take advantage of the software, feeling they are safe from prosecution as long as they don't distribute the content from DVDs.

Will stores ever sell tools to copy DVDs?

Congress could change the law. Judges concede that, in the eternal tension between copyright holders and users, Congress has tipped the balance toward the studios. But there does not appear to be a rush to make changes.

If not Congress, then what?

Some moviemakers are experimenting with DVDs that include an extra digital copy, either on the original disk or a second disk. Some will allow the second copy to be transferred to portable devices. It's unclear if any particular approach will catch on, or how much consumers will have to pay. Most studios are also experimenting with digital downloads, and some are looking into other media, including memory cards. Besides fighting piracy, Hollywood seems to be awakening to the changed expectations of consumers in an age of digital files and portable players.

 

Technology as Our Teacher
Mortimer B. Zuckerman

How can average teachers become better teachers? The secretary's special funding could make a crucial difference by financing a national program exploiting the electronic miracles of the Internet and video. We could escape geography by using the technology to have the best teachers appear in hundreds of thousands of disparate classrooms. This is a force multiplier.

 

 

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