SANTA
CLARA, Calif.'“ May 20, 2004 '“ Macrovision Corporation, 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."
About
Macrovision
Macrovision develops and
markets digital rights management, copy protection, and electronic license
management technologies for the video, music and software markets. Macrovision's
proven technology has been used on over 2.7 billion video DVDs, 250 million PC
games CDs and 275 million music CDs.
Macrovision has its corporate
headquarters in Santa
Clara, California, with
international offices in London,
Frankfurt, Tel Aviv,
Tokyo,
Hong
Kong,
Taipei and
Seoul. Macrovision
can be found on the Internet at www.macrovision.com.
This
press release may contain 'forward-looking" statements as that term is defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. A number of factors
could cause Macrovision's actual results to differ from anticipated results
expressed in such forward-looking statements. Such factors are addressed in
Macrovision's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (available at
www.sec.gov). Macrovision assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
©Macrovision
2004. Macrovision is a registered trademark of Macrovision Corporation. All
other product names and trademarks used are the registered property of their
respective companies.
Thanks go to WebITPR for sending us this
press release.
Source: WebITPR.com
