A legal fight erupted Tuesday over the ability of consumers to copy DVDs onto their computers, setting the stage for a new battle between Hollywood and a purveyor of technology that could alter how consumers watch movies at home.
The six major Hollywood movie studios sued Seattle-based RealNetworks, asking a federal court in Los Angeles to bar the digital media company from distributing new software that they say lets consumers copy movies illegally.
RealNetworks also took legal action, asking a court to declare that the company's new RealDVD software program, which went on sale Tuesday, was legal and complied with the DVD Copy Control Assn.'s license agreement.
Whether consumers are clamoring for a technology that gives them the ability to copy movies they might otherwise rent is unclear. But the man behind the push, RealNetworks Chief Executive Rob Glaser, is no stranger to rattling the cages of behemoths.
The volatile Glaser took on software nemesis Microsoft Corp. and won a $760-million settlement; he later invited the ire of Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs with a technical work-around that evaded the iTunes copy protection. Indeed, Glaser's company has engaged in at least half a dozen high-profile legal battles over the last decade.
So it's no surprise that Glaser was willing to take on all of Hollywood over a new software product that -- if it survives the legal challenge from the studios -- would make it legal for consumers to rip their DVD movies. It's a gamble he's eager to take, say industry observers, because it would position RealNetworks to capitalize on what it hopes will be a popular consumer product.
"Great products should not be bullied out of the market by people trying to misuse the law to suppress legitimate innovation," Glaser wrote in an online statement outlining his reasons for launching the RealDVD software Tuesday despite the legal challenges. In a separate interview, Glaser said he had been in negotiations "into the wee hours of the night" and hoped to eventually reach an agreement with the studios.
"I wouldn't want it be characterized that we look for trouble," Glaser said.
Knowing the studio suit was imminent, RealNetworks preemptively filed a complaint in federal district court in San Jose on Tuesday, asking that its right to make and sell the RealDVD software be affirmed. Its legal argument leans heavily on the 2007 outcome of a case involving Kaleidescape, a maker of home media servers, which had been sued by the DVD Copy Control Assn. because DVDs could be copied onto the device's hard drive.
