Court hears DVD copying dispute

Wired News: A federal judge listened to arguments Thursday in a lawsuit filed by Hollywood studios against a maker of DVD-copying software. The case could determine whether DVD owners can legally copy portions of videos. Katie Dean reports. Excerpt:

Russell Frackman, an attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America argued that the "321 product mimics and copies the CSS authentication," the encryption lock that is encoded on his client's DVDs, thereby bypassing security settings. The DMCA prohibits this, he argued.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it is illegal to bypass any technical measures that control access to copyrighted materials. The law also bans any technology that can circumvent these mechanisms.

But Daralyn Durie, attorney for 321 Studios said the court should take into consideration that the intended users of its products have already purchased the DVDs from which they are reproducing content.

"The DMCA has to be read to allow users access to encrypted content if they have the right to access it, if it is purchased," Durie said.

She argued that once a consumer buys a DVD, there is no license to tell them what they can and cannot do. They own the DVD. Durie compared an encrypted DVD to an antique, locked chest, explaining that if the item is purchased, the owner has the right to break the lock and access what's inside.

A fascinating -- and important -- groundbreaking case in the digital rights wars.