RealNetworks has been unable to lift an injunction on its RealDVD copying programme until a judge learns from experts how the software functions.

US District Judge Marilyn Patel indicated she wouldn't be available for another hearing until after November 17 which means that experts cannot tell her how Real’s software works until that date. Patel said that she was not satisfied that the software is not in violation.  She said there were serious questions about copyright violations. Including questions about violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Last week, an hour after RealDVD hit the market, the company filed a preemptive lawsuit against the top motion picture studios so that the courts would rule that the software didn't violate any laws. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed its own suit a few hours later and on Friday obtained an injunction.

The movie industry argues that RealDVD violates the DMCA by circumventing the anti-copy protections on DVDs to enable consumers to copy movies. They claim that the software also violates RealNetworks' agreement with the DVD Copy Control Association (DVDCCA), the group responsible for protecting DVDs against piracy, according to lawyers for the MPAA.

James DiBoise, RealNetworks' attorney, told Patel that RealDVD enables consumers to copy a film, store it on a hard drive and does so without cracking any copy protections. This means that there isn't anything in the company's agreement with the DVDCCA that prohibited what RealDVD does. The agreement with the DVD Copy Control Association fails to mention that there needs to be a physical disk playing in a physical drive.

While the MPAA admitted that was true,  it argued that the law requires RealNetworks to stay within the parameters of what the contract authorises. X 

Check Out
News.com