RealNetworks Being Hypocritical in Lawsuit by Studios in DVD Copying
RealNetworks created software, RealDVD, that allows you to copy a DVD, on up to 5 computers for $30 (can get additional coverage for $20 each).
Studios (Paramount, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Sony and Universal) are like, “Screw that! We’re building a download biz and we’ll be damned if we lose any revenues from DVD sales.” So studios are trying to establish a moat around this business to protect it…by suing the hell out of RNWK.
RNWK is saying that copying one’s personal collection of DVDs is cool and covered under fair use.
But given the limits software makers place on the number of copies of software licenses, isn’t RealNetworks being hypocritical?
What if I wanted to buy a copy of RNWKs software (any software) and put it on four computers instead of the three limit (mine, my wife’s laptop, her kid sister – who can’t afford it on her own, and my brother’s laptop).
RNWK would probably have a conniption!
Am I missing something???
As a consumer, I’d like RNWK software, since I’m not trying to make money off of this stuff.
I may want to mix some footage of home video of my 10 month old, with scenes from Star Wars and my mom’s amazing piano and vocal performance in 1989 J. Again, this is for personal usage, so I’d hate to be limited on usage.
Yet, part of me wonders if the studios are going down the wrong path. These are the same people who said the home entertainment market (i.e., video rentals) would kill its business. Now the home entertainment market is massive and actually saves the bottom line for movies that either didn’t or couldn’t make it in theatres. Adams Media Research estimates lost revenues from DVDs will be about $15B if consumers stop buying DVDs and instead copy DVDs from friends or rental outlets like Netflix or Blockbusters.
The other part wonders if the studios are borrowing a page from the old “failed” record label playbook, “sue anything that moves” philosophy. In that case, when people virally spread music around the net, it actually created buzz for the artist, which reflected in concert ticket and merchandising sales, paid appearances in movies, etc. The labels didn’t push to get any of that alternative revenue though. This could drive merchandising, etc. George Lucas realized this and built a massive empire (no pun intended) out of it.
But I have to admit, about this last point…it generally doesn’t cost as much to produce good music as it does a good movie. So in theory, you have to recoup more of the cost from DVD than, say music CD sales.
Netflix
Amazon