Describe the logic that supported the courts decision
Case Analysis
• The assignment should consist of a presentable and entertaining presentation (Power Point or other medium) and will be delivered in some form of participative medium (webex/on-site/or alternative as determined by professor) . It should include a summary of the relevant facts, the law, judicial opinion and answer the case questions. All that is necessary for an understanding of the case is important and required.
• The report must go beyond the discussion of the problem posed in the textbook, to achieve a superior grade. Do research outside the textbook- this must include research outside the case citation such as the Lexus-Nexis in the DeVry Library or FindLaw.com, do research on the parties and circumstances of the case itself and incorporate some audio-visual modality as a part of the case analysis.something about one of the parties, as well as some background contained in the legal opinion. Doing significant research outside the textbook is essential.
• Utilize the case format below.
• Your grade comes from the content contained on the actual submission.
Case Analysis Format
1. Read and understand the case or question assigned. Show your Analysis and Reasoning and make it clear you understand the material. Be sure to incorporate the concepts of the chapter we are studying to show your reasoning. Dedicate at least one heading to each following outline topic:
Parties [Identify the plaintiff and the defendant]
Facts [Summarize only those facts critical to the outcome of the case]
Procedure [Who brought the appeal? What was the outcome in the lower court(s)?]
Issue [Note the central question or questions on which the case turns]
Explain the applicable law(s). Use the textbook here. The law should come from the same chapter as the case. Be sure to use citations from the textbook including page numbers.
Holding [How did the court resolve the issue(s)? Who won?]
Reasoning [Explain the logic that supported the court’s decision]
2. Do significant research outside of the book and demonstrate that you have in a very obvious way. This refers to research beyond the legal research. This involves something about the parties or other interesting related area. Show something you have discovered about the case, parties or other important element from your own research. Be sure this is obvious and adds value beyond the legal reasoning of the case.
3. Dedicate 1 slide to each of the case question(s) immediately following the case, if there are any. Be sure to state and fully answer the questions in the presentation.
4. Quality in terms of substance, form, grammar and context. Be entertaining! Use excellent audio-visual material and backgrounds!
5. Wrap up with a Conclusion slide. This should summarize the key aspects of the decision and also your recommendations on the court’s ruling.
6. Include citations on the slides and a reference slide with your sources. Use APA style citations and references.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these step-by-step instructions.
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
CASE
RealNetworks, Inc. v. DVD Control Copy Association, Inc., et al.
United States District Court for the Northern District of California 641 F. Supp. 2d 913 (2009)
RealNetworks is a media company that produces and sells software called RealDVD. The software enables people to make copies of DVDs they have purchased. In 2009, the company sued the DVD Control Copy Association of America and seven movie studios in pursuit of a legal declaration that its DVD copying software did not breach the DMCA. RealNetworks claimed that its software was only intended for people to make “backups” of DVDs that they had already purchased themselves.
The association and the movie studios disagreed, claiming that although the DMCA did permit RealNetworks’ initial access to the copyrighted material, it did not protect the company’s granting access to the material to additional individuals without any consent from the copyright owners. Furthermore, the software enables individuals to save copyrighted content to a computer hard drive or a portable drive, which deactivates any protection in the technology of the actual DVD.
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel
DMCA’s anti-circumvention and anti-trafficking provisions establish “new grounds for liability in the context of the unauthorized access of copyrighted material.” … There is nothing that limits the number of times a physical DVD can be copied using either [RealNetworks’ products] Vegas or Facet, however. A DVD could be passed around a dormitory, office, or neighborhood and copied on any Facet box or any computer using Vegas…. Plaintiff must then show that Real[Network]’s RealDVD products are either: (a) primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing technological measures that effectively control access to a copyrighted work; (b) have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent such technological measures; or (c) marketed for use in circumventing such technological measures. These are disjunctive clauses. The court need look no further than the first enumerated condition to find that the Studios are likely to prevail on the section 1201(a)(2) claim. As defined in section 1201(a), “to ‘circumvent a technological measure’ means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner.” 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(3)(A). CSS is a “technological measure” that effectively controls access to copyrighted DVD content and RealDVD permits the access of that content without the authority of the copyright owner. RealDVD products are designed primarily for circumvention of that technology, as Real has admitted its intent upon initial development was to create a software product that copies DVDs to computer hard drives so that the user does not need the physical DVD to watch the content. This unauthorized access infringes the Studios’ rights because it entails accessing content without the authority of the copyright owner, as discussed.
Judgment for Defendant.
The court agreed with the association and determined that the software did in fact violate the DMCA, for the reasons given in its opinion, and granted the association and studios a preliminary injunction that banned RealNetworks not only from selling the software, but also from licensing it to any other company. This decision effectively altered the digital technology and copyright laws for the future.
