MPAA’s Valenti Applauds New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals Decision to Uphold Lower Court Decision in Motion Picture Industry DeCSS Case

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (May 17, 2002) – In a ruling reaffirming copyright protection in the digital age, today, the New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of its own three-judge panel of judges that posting of and linking to DeCSS was in direct violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. The ruling denied the petition of Eric Corley, of 2600.com, for rehearing en banc – asking the entire Second Circuit court to reconsider the ruling by the original three-judge panel.

In November, 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected an appeal by Corley from the decision of U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York that upheld the constitutionality of the DMCA.

"Three court rulings in a row (District Court, Court of Appeal and Court of Appeal en banc) have upheld the constitutionality of the DMCA and its application to the defendant’s actions. The rulings are unambiguous and the message clear: the DMCA is a viable and critical law that protects copyright holders from unauthorized abuse of their works in the digital arena," said Jack Valenti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of America.

In 1998 Congress passed and President Clinton signed the DMCA to allow the creators of copyrighted material to protect their works from digital piracy. Under the DMCA, it is illegal for anyone to traffic in a device designed to circumvent the encryption that protects copyrighted material.

Additional information on this case may be found on the MPAA web site at www.mpaa.org.